WotC sues EBay

[Brown Jenkin]

WIZARDS OF THE COAST SUES EBAY FOR COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

April 6, 2009 — Wizards of the Coast LLC today filed a lawsuits in US District Court for the Western District of Washington against EBay, for copyright infringement of its Dungeons & Dragons® titles. The lawsuit alleges that the defendants illegally allowed the resale and distribution of it past titles which resulted in a substantial number of lost sales and lost revenue to Wizards of the Coast.

“Violations of our copyrights and piracy of our products hurt not only Wizards of the Coast’s financial health but also the health of whole gaming community including retailers and players,” said Greg Leeds, President of Wizards of the Coast. “We have brought these suits to stop the illegal activities of these defendants, and to deter future unauthorized and unlawful file-sharing.”

The complaint alleges, among other things, that players were buying these past titles in order to play earlier versions of Dungeons & Dragons® game instead of only spending their money on its highly successful and current 4th Edition of the game.

About Wizards
Wizards of the Coast is the leader in entertaining the lifestyle gamer. The company holds an exclusive patent on trading card games (TCGs) and their method of play and produces the premier trading card game, MAGIC: THE GATHERING®, among many other trading card games and family card and board games. Wizards is also a leading publisher of roleplaying games, such as DUNGEONS & DRAGONS®, and publisher of fantasy series fiction with numerous New York Times best-sellers. For more information, visit the Wizards of the Coast website at Wizards of the Coast.

Wizards of the Coast, Dungeons & Dragons, Player’s Handbook, and Magic: The Gathering are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast LLC in the U.S.A. and other countries. © 2009 Wizards

*Please note this is an attempt at humor and not a real press release.

 

[possum]

Good choice by WotC. It's quite obvious that the secondary market easily takes profits away from them. I've seen books being advertised for auction on eBay before they are even officially released.

I do hope that they follow this with cease and dissest letters to all garage sale and auction holders that plan on selling their products.

 

[kitsune9]

*Please note this is an attempt at humor and not a real press release.

Will I get a cease-and-desist on my upcoming garage sale?

 

[possum]

Will I get a cease-and-desist on my upcoming garage sale?

*rolls the magic 8-ball*

All signs point to yes.

*shrugs*

Sorry.

 

[El Mahdi]

Will I get a cease-and-desist on my upcoming garage sale?

Just move your garage sale to Asia and it won't matter.


But I am a little confused over this. Why would WotC care about you selling a garage?