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<blockquote data-quote="wingsandsword" data-source="post: 3397800" data-attributes="member: 14159">If, big if, modern copyright rules existed in most D&amp;D worlds, I'd imagine that most if not all PHB spells would have been long since entered into the public domain.&nbsp; I know that in the Forgotten Realms most of the PHB spells date back to Netheril, and thus are millennia old, and even long-lived creators have been dead for many centuries.&nbsp; Also, what are Sorcerers if spell copyright exists?&nbsp; Walking copyright violations when they realize they can shoot Magic Missile from their fingertips one day?&nbsp; What happens when they learn to write scrolls and start to create Magic Missile scrolls but aren't a part of the Wizardly community with regards to research and attribution?I like the &quot;academic research&quot; model that ephemeron put forth, it seems to feel right for D&amp;D wizards.On a side note, this reminds me of a spell from a campaign I played in back in the 2e era: &quot;Slay Familiar&quot;.&nbsp; The DM ran spells as working like computer programs, and that spell had deceptive &quot;external documentation&quot;.&nbsp; In other words, the spell description that PC's get isn't what it does.&nbsp; The spell description says it's a 1st level Necromancy spell that slays a targeted familiar no-save.&nbsp; It actually instantly kills the familiar of the caster with no save.The NPC wizard who created it made it as a trap, he never casts it, but it's there if anybody tries to steal spells from his spellbook, they'll end up killing their familiar as punishment.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="wingsandsword, post: 3397800, member: 14159"] If, big if, modern copyright rules existed in most D&D worlds, I'd imagine that most if not all PHB spells would have been long since entered into the public domain. I know that in the Forgotten Realms most of the PHB spells date back to Netheril, and thus are millennia old, and even long-lived creators have been dead for many centuries. Also, what are Sorcerers if spell copyright exists? Walking copyright violations when they realize they can shoot Magic Missile from their fingertips one day? What happens when they learn to write scrolls and start to create Magic Missile scrolls but aren't a part of the Wizardly community with regards to research and attribution? I like the "academic research" model that ephemeron put forth, it seems to feel right for D&D wizards. On a side note, this reminds me of a spell from a campaign I played in back in the 2e era: "Slay Familiar". The DM ran spells as working like computer programs, and that spell had deceptive "external documentation". In other words, the spell description that PC's get isn't what it does. The spell description says it's a 1st level Necromancy spell that slays a targeted familiar no-save. It actually instantly kills the familiar of the caster with no save. The NPC wizard who created it made it as a trap, he never casts it, but it's there if anybody tries to steal spells from his spellbook, they'll end up killing their familiar as punishment. [/QUOTE]

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