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<blockquote data-quote="Janx" data-source="post: 3397616" data-attributes="member: 8835">Jurgen's hit it on the head.Yes spells are like software.&nbsp; However, in a society that is lacking formal copyright, trademark, and intelectual property laws, there's no formal recognition of copying spells as being a crime.However, an act doesn't have to be a crime, for it to be wrong.In the real world, I once had a software program I was working on copied by a friend, so he could tweak on it.&nbsp; He did it without my permission, by grabbing the floppy it was on, and copying it and putting it back&nbsp; (this was a long time ago, I was in school).&nbsp; I was not happy.&nbsp; I tossed a magnet in his disk-case the next day.&nbsp; Problem solved.This little anecdote is analagous to how a wizard would feel if somebody came into his tower, copied on of his private spells (one he hasn't shared with anyone), and then started using it.&nbsp; It's also indicative of how the wizard might handle it.I suspect that all the player's handbook spells are public domain.&nbsp; They've been copied (probably without permission) so many times, its impossible to stop it (and the original author is likely dead).&nbsp; I also suspect that if a wizard creates a new spell (one created by the player or DM), if he doesn't share it with anybody, he will be very mad if it pops up anywhere.&nbsp; A Wizard who creates a spell is NOT likely to share that spell with anyone, except his favorite secret society of mages that also intends to keep it secret.&nbsp; The reason, is that possession of a spell that nobody else has is valuable.&nbsp; It gives you an ability that nobody else has.&nbsp; That in turn means you can get jobs to solve certain problems, that other wizards can't, because you have the spell you wrote to solve that problem.Think of it this way, the author of &quot;Carry on a real conversation with a dead person&quot; spell is looking to make money by hiring himself out to police investigators, and cruel overlords who went overboard in the torture room.&nbsp; If everybody had the spell, they wouldn't be so valuable.Janx</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Janx, post: 3397616, member: 8835"] Jurgen's hit it on the head. Yes spells are like software. However, in a society that is lacking formal copyright, trademark, and intelectual property laws, there's no formal recognition of copying spells as being a crime. However, an act doesn't have to be a crime, for it to be wrong. In the real world, I once had a software program I was working on copied by a friend, so he could tweak on it. He did it without my permission, by grabbing the floppy it was on, and copying it and putting it back (this was a long time ago, I was in school). I was not happy. I tossed a magnet in his disk-case the next day. Problem solved. This little anecdote is analagous to how a wizard would feel if somebody came into his tower, copied on of his private spells (one he hasn't shared with anyone), and then started using it. It's also indicative of how the wizard might handle it. I suspect that all the player's handbook spells are public domain. They've been copied (probably without permission) so many times, its impossible to stop it (and the original author is likely dead). I also suspect that if a wizard creates a new spell (one created by the player or DM), if he doesn't share it with anybody, he will be very mad if it pops up anywhere. A Wizard who creates a spell is NOT likely to share that spell with anyone, except his favorite secret society of mages that also intends to keep it secret. The reason, is that possession of a spell that nobody else has is valuable. It gives you an ability that nobody else has. That in turn means you can get jobs to solve certain problems, that other wizards can't, because you have the spell you wrote to solve that problem. Think of it this way, the author of "Carry on a real conversation with a dead person" spell is looking to make money by hiring himself out to police investigators, and cruel overlords who went overboard in the torture room. If everybody had the spell, they wouldn't be so valuable. Janx [/QUOTE]

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