SRD Legal Hassle - in need of help/advice

[Ranger REG]

BTW, how long has it been since you last sent Andy Smith an email? Let's assume he is currently recovering from the GenCon party, it'll be awhile for him to sort his mail, open them, read them, consult with Legal rep, and provide you with an answer.

From my preliminary perspective, the guy does not have a leg to stand on. He cannot control the usage of SRD by anyone who willingly accept and follow the terms of the licenses offered Wizards of the Coast, not by Bjoern Meyer.

To be fair, perhaps you should invite him to speak his case here.

 

[jmucchiello]

While everyone here is correct that you have done nothing wrong, German trademark law is extremely screwy so you should not take this lightly. (In Germany, from what I understand, a third party can sue, and receive "damages", if they catch someone violating a trademark OWNED BY SOMEONE ELSE!!!!)

Give Andy (at Wizards) some time. He probably has to take to legal before he can tell Amigo to rein in their lawyers.

OTOH, since he only threatened to report you to WotC/Hasbro lawyers, there shouldn't be any real problem unless Hasbro Germany's lawyers know nothing about the OGL, too.

 

[Cergorach]

Maybe you should e-mail him and tell him your liscenced to produce this and send a copy of the OGL with it...

 

[Flyspeck23]

While the links are down on your free stuff page, you can still download all six handouts from the links in the news section of your homepage....

Yes, I know. That's because I wanted to wait until the news is not on the ENWorld frontpage anymore. They're down now.
BTW, I thought the cure period was something like 30 days...

In Germany, from what I understand, a third party can sue, and receive "damages", if they catch someone violating a trademark OWNED BY SOMEONE ELSE!!!!

Something like that, yes. While I think my chances in court wouldn't be bad (but I'm not a lawyer, so how can I tell...), I don't want to risk going to court with them. Heck, I've already wasted enough time on this. So the only possible solution for me is: Amigo tells me it's alright for me to post the handouts.
How I can achieve that is beyond me. Maybe a reply by WotC can help, maybe not...

BTW, how long has it been since you last sent Andy Smith an email? Let's assume he is currently recovering from the GenCon party, it'll be awhile for him to sort his mail, open them, read them, consult with Legal rep, and provide you with an answer.

Thought so. I've got to be patient (to answer your question: my first eMail was send exactly 24 hours ago, the second was send seven hours later).

To be fair, perhaps you should invite him to speak his case here.

I'm not quite sure if he's up to it - english language and all. Look at his second mail. He wrote that after I've send him an eMail pointing him to the sources (OGL, D20 System License, ...). All he said on that matter was: "the D20 license differs clearly from the OGL".
Maybe I should translate the last paragraph of his second eMail (there are [...] in my translation). Here goes:

"Concerning the naming of "Dungeons&Dragons": this is indeed part of the D20 license (but not part of the OGL, mind you, with whitch no connection to D&D and D20 is made / may be made) - in Germany even the reference to the german versions is required."

Well, what can I say.
[Edit In my mail I've pointed Mr. Meyer to "Requires the use of the Dungeons & Dragons(R) Player's Handbook, Third Edition, published by Wizards of the Coast, Inc.", as by the D20 System Guide 3.0.
Now Mr. Meyer seems to want something added: "and requires the use Dungeon & Dragons(R) Player's Handbook, Third Edition, published by Amigo Spiel + Freizeit GmbH".

 

[Flyspeck23]

More news on this neverending story... a new email by Mr. Meyer, after I've pointed him to my sources at http://www.wizards.com/d20 (once again, translation by me):

Dear Mr. Pietraszak,
I am not a lawyer and am bound by the defaults and explanations, which we receive from Wizards OF the Coast/Hasbro. I think you, like many other people, are mixing the D20 License and the OGL License. These are two different licenses, for which apply different defaults.
So the material of the SRD may be used in the context of the OGL, but no connection to D&D, D20, the SRD or similar may be made (also not in the context of the supply of the material - for example on your homepage). Besides that, the entire licenses (license text, Contributors, emphasis of the new open content, no advertisement with the Contributors, etc.) must be considered.
In the context of the D20 license this looks, as I've pointed out, completely differently. Here the SRD serves to our information only as reference for the manufacturers of D20 material, and may only be used within a clearly more limited framework, than the OGL.
Yours sincerely,
Bjoern Meyer


Sorry for that crappy translation. I'm not quite sure if "defaults" is the correct word to use... btw, it gets increasingly difficult to put some meaning to these sentences




Again, the original text:

"Sehr geehrter Herr Pietraszak,

ich bin kein Jurist und halte mich an die Vorgaben und Erläuterungen, die wir von Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro erhalten. Meines erachtens bringen sie wie viele andere Leute auch, die D20 Lizenz und die OGL Lizenz teilweise durcheinander. Es handelt sich um zwei sehr unterschiedliche Lizenzen für die auch unterschiedliche Vorgaben für die Nutzung gelten. So darf im Rahmen der OGL zwar das Material des SRD verwendet werden, aber dabei darf in keinster Weise ein Bezug zu D&D, D20, dem SRD oder ähnlichem herge
stellt werden (auch nicht im Rahmen der Bereitstellung des Materials - sprich auf der Homepage). Zudem müssen die gesamten Lizenzvorgaben (Lizenztext, Contributors, Hervorhebung des neuen Open Content, keine Werbung mit den Contributors, etc.) beachtet werden.

Im Rahmen der D20 Lizenz sieht dies wie gesagt ganz anders aus. Hier dient das SRD unseren Informationen nach lediglich als Referenz für die Hersteller von D20 Material, und darf nur in einem deutlich eingeschränkterem Rahmen, als bei der OGL benutzt werden.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Björn Meyer

 

[smetzger]

Dear Mr. Pietraszak,
...Here the SRD serves to our information only as reference for the manufacturers of D20 material...

The only requirement for being a 'manufacturer of D20 material' is that you send in your D20 registration card.

 

[kingpaul]

The only requirement for being a 'manufacturer of D20 material' is that you send in your D20 registration card.

I didn't think that was a requirement anymore.

 

[Mindcrime]

Flyspeck,

Looks to me like Amigo is confusing the d20 STL/OGL with the Dungeons and Dragons license. In terms of publishing, you can do what you like with the SRD as long as you abide by the OGL and the d20 STL (though you can still use the OGL and NOT the d20 STL). His company has the rights to Dungeons & Dragons in Germany, which is not the same thing at all. He is accusing you of not understanding when in fact he is the one who doesn't understand. The agreement Amigo has with Hasbro/WOTC is NOT the d20 STL. It's whatever the hell special licensing agreement he made with them so he could publish the German language version of Dungeons & Dragons.

Chris

 

[Flyspeck23]

I'm trying to show Mr. Meyer his errors, but somehow he just shuts down instead of listening to reason.
What do you think: should I post my own emails too? (That would be real work, though, because my emails to Mr. Meyer are much longer than his to me...)

I didn't think that was a requirement anymore.

It isn't. But if you do that, you'll have a "cure period" of 30 days.

 

[Ranger REG]

I hope that Wizards will rule in your favor, if you have not violated the terms of the royalty-free licenses, including the use of trademarks (that is, do no go beyond what is normally allowed in the Guide).