| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Caladan Brood |
Posted - 21 Aug 2015 : 12:44:12
Hi all, I'm in the midst of several Realms-related projects [I've *really* gotten the bug]. I assume everything published by TSR and Wizards of the Coast and third-party licensees is copyrighted, but that you can use that copyrighted material in games (like, obviously, Dungeons & Dragons).
I'm currently writing four separate adventures (I'm crazy like that, I always work on a lot of things at the same time, be it music, RPG stuff, stories, articles etc), and I've been having fun creating covers that match the classic AD&D line of Realms books, but I am uncertain where the line is drawn when it comes what I can include in an adventure - assuming I share the final PDF here, for example.
Specifically, I am writing one adventure set in Archendale. Since this is an unofficial, fan-made product I assume I can't directly copy/paste material from, say, Volo's Guide to the Dalelands,, but can I use the information given therein? I mean, can I write something like "As you walk down Urserpent Street, you notice a small, unassuming shop on your right. A large wooden sign says Elgath's Provisions."
[In the source, Elgath's Provisons is called 'the smallest' and 'unassuming', so in a sense I am taking it from Volo's Guide..]
Would that be legal?
I can't assume that every locale name and every character in any Realms book is copyrighted, so I guess I *can* write about Elgath and his store.
Another question, would it be illegal for me to extract Realms-articles from Dragon PDFs into one single PDF (I guess I can, as long as I don't share it)? |
| 4 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Mirtek |
Posted - 21 Aug 2015 : 18:24:31
Actually it's not that easy and depends entirely on how lenient the owner of the copyright is.
Whether something is distributed commercially or as completely free fan work has little bearing.
Especially the video games moding community can attest to that. In the "best" cases merely hours upon hours of work put into completely free mods has been lost when the copyright owner suddenly decided to no longer tolerate it. In the worst cases the moders in question received not only a note to end their work, but an attached invoice for the copyright owner's lawyers. Just google "fan mod shut down" for a great many examples of completely free fan projects being axed by copyright owners
I wouldn't be vouch that a court would accept a fan published adventure as either "criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching , scholarship, or research". As longs as WotC is turning a blind eye to this (during TSR's D&D days there were some "witch hunts" targeting fan shared stuff) it's not a problem. But if WotC for whatever reason decides to step in, they certainly have the better cards in court if it comes to that. |
| Artemas Entreri |
Posted - 21 Aug 2015 : 17:23:42
quote:
Originally posted by Caladan Brood
Oh, that is surprising! Thanks for the input. Since I can't include a map of Archenbridge (if I understand you correctly) can I draw one myself which is based off the original?
I think you CAN use the maps in whatever you are working, just don't publish what you are working on without the artist's permission. |
| Caladan Brood |
Posted - 21 Aug 2015 : 15:45:04
Oh, that is surprising! Thanks for the input. Since I can't include a map of Archenbridge (if I understand you correctly) can I draw one myself which is based off the original? |
| hashimashadoo |
Posted - 21 Aug 2015 : 13:09:50
Actually, you can copy and paste stuff directly from the source as long as:
* You don't publish the work, claiming it all as your own.
* You don't use any copywrite art in such a publication without the artist's permission.
Basically, you can do whatever the hell you want as long as you don't distribute it commercially or for profit.
On the wiki for example, we don't publish articles with the text copied verbatim from the source, but we still include all of the information from the source, written in our own words. Pictures are taken from the artist's or the WotC website (because they count as promotional, which is a copywrite exception) or published under the 'fair use' clause of US copywrite law (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use#Fair_use_under_United_States_law). Occasionally, we have to contact the artist personally and that conversation has gone many different ways. |
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