Contributor
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Smiteworks, the makers of Fantasy Grounds, have sent a cease and desist to WotC for infringement of their IP by using their dice roller in Screenshots of the online tabletop.
THIS picture shows the two dice rollers side by side.
Here's the full press release if you don't want to follow the link.
HELSINKI, FINLAND. June 10, 2008. SmiteWorks Ltd. issues notice of
copyright infringement to Wizards of the Coast
SmiteWorks Ltd., publisher of Fantasy Grounds II virtual tabletop
software (www.fantasygrounds.com), has sent Wizards of the Coast,
a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc., and publisher of Dungeons & Dragons
roleplaying game, a notice of copyright infringement and demand to cease
and desist.
Wizards of the Coast is promoting a subscription-based service, D&D
Insider, featuring D&D Game Table (to be released). One of the six
features promoted is a Die Roller. The graphics for the dice on the Die
Roller marketing screenshot are taken from a Fantasy Grounds product,
first published in 2004. The fact is illustrated in
http://www.fantasygrounds.com/misc/infringement.html. The technology
used for the interactive 3D dice is a unique and distinctive feature of
Fantasy Grounds and the look and feel of the dice has gone unchanged
since the launch of the first version of Fantasy Grounds.
"We are very surprised that Wizards of the Coast, whose business
heavily involves intellectual property management was so ignorant on
intellectual property rights that it chose to take distinctive
graphics directly out of the most prominent head-on competing product."
Fantasy Grounds II is a virtual tabletop for roleplaying and social
gaming online; it features an open platform for game producers to
develop an online dimension to their products.
SmiteWorks is a recognized worldwide leader in virtual gaming table
software since 2004, headquartered in Espoo, Finland. For more
information, visit www.smiteworks.com.
Hah! That is the best thing ever.
They didn't take the die roller. They took the image from it because their own wasn't ready. That marketing 'screenshot' was made in Photoshop.
My suspicion is that they swiped an image to fill in temporarily because they don't have a dice roller of their own, rather than stealing the entire program. But that is just a guess.
That's about what I came up with too Scribe, when I saw this earlier on ENWorld. Many there (at the time) had the opinion that the advert could simply be changed and there would be nothing left to the suit.
Cheers! :)
Thanks Craig, that made my day. :D
Many there (at the time) had the opinion that the advert could simply be changed and there would be nothing left to the suit.
Although copyright law provides for statutory damages, and the suit could proceed based on the past infringement, though whether the damages they'd be likely to get would make it worth it is questionable.
That's about what I came up with too Scribe, when I saw this earlier on ENWorld. Many there (at the time) had the opinion that the advert could simply be changed and there would be nothing left to the suit.
Cheers! :)
That's pretty much what "cease and desist" means.
Are you kidding? This actually could outright kill DDI. It's not just that they stole artwork for an ad.. it's that they stole artwork from a product that directly competes with DDI -as- DDI. This is a case of corporate fraud, a reasonably case to prove an attempt to fool the public against competition.
I don't think anyone is going to be able to take it that far. If I'm Hasbro, I just say: "We used that graphic as a placeholder internally, and it was inadvertently left in place when we released the screenshots. As soon as we realized it we corrected it."
The case for copyright infringement is still there, but claims of fraud, unfair competition, etc. are going to look pretty thin.
This has been settled days ago. FG issued a C&D since total damages was $0 (if it was greater then $0, there would be a lawsuit there, but there is not financial damage). Within hours it was taken down and Rouse explained that it was just an internal thing of approximately how it should look when its finished and it accidently made it outside of their own interal stuff. Both companies have moved on since then.
The case for copyright infringement is still there, but claims of fraud, unfair competition, etc. are going to look pretty thin.That's assuming that Hasbro's willing to go to bat to defend WotC... I'm not so sure that's currently the case.
Not sure how much it would take to get fraud-type claims dismissed. We don't know enough about the underlying facts. We know there was copyright infringement. There isn't enough information to say more than that - you'd have to know things about the internal goings on at WotC that we don't have access to.
Are you kidding? This actually could outright kill DDI. It's not just that they stole artwork for an ad.. it's that they stole artwork from a product that directly competes with DDI -as- DDI. This is a case of corporate fraud, a reasonably case to prove an attempt to fool the public against competition.
I don't think anyone is going to be able to take it that far. If I'm Hasbro, I just say: "We used that graphic as a placeholder internally, and it was inadvertently left in place when we released the screenshots. As soon as we realized it we corrected it."
The case for copyright infringement is still there, but claims of fraud, unfair competition, etc. are going to look pretty thin.
Beyond this Hasbro has the money to fight this in a way that Fantasy Grounds does not.
Having this tied up in court and costing both sides 10s of millions of dollars hurts them both but it would probably destroy Fantasy Grounds. So, unless Fantasy Grounds can prove, for sure, that this was pure maliciousness and that WotC showing a graphic of Fantasy Grounds Dice Roller obliterated all of Fantasy Grounds business and destroyed any chance of them having any future business I just can't see the game being worth the candle to Fantasy Grounds.
This is good for Fantasy Grounds not so much because it hurts WotC, WotC will presumably promptly comply with the cease and desist and it probably ends there, but because, in issuing this cease and desist they get loads of free publicity. Its almost as if they tapped into WotCs marketing budget.
This has been settled days ago. FG issued a C&D since total damages was $0. Within hours it was taken down and Rouse explained that it was just an internal thing of approximately how it should look when its finished and it accidently made it outside of their own interal stuff. Both companies have moved on since then.
Ok. Sounds reasonable.
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This has been settled days ago. FG issued a C&D since total damages was $0. Within hours it was taken down and Rouse explained that it was just an internal thing of approximately how it should look when its finished and it accidently made it outside of their own interal stuff. Both companies have moved on since then.
Still, it shows how sloppy WOTC has become. They SHOULDN'T need to borrow dice images from a competing VTT product. I use FG for all my current D&D groups and there are rumors that they might go 4th Edition. Of course, with the new GSL; I doubt they will. And I hope they don't, since I am sticking with 3.5.
This story did make my day though (along with the Mearls OGL stuff.)
Chief Technical Officer
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My suspicion is that they swiped an image to fill in temporarily because they don't have a dice roller of their own, rather than stealing the entire program. But that is just a guess.That's about what I came up with too Scribe, when I saw this earlier on ENWorld. Many there (at the time) had the opinion that the advert could simply be changed and there would be nothing left to the suit.
Cheers! :)
It doesn't say there's a suit. It says there's "a notice of copyright infringement and demand to cease and desist." Effectively, a letter saying "Dude, you're ripping me off. Stop it."
Generally, if a company complies with such notice, it goes no further.
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This has been settled days ago. FG issued a C&D since total damages was $0 (if it was greater then $0, there would be a lawsuit there, but there is not financial damage). Within hours it was taken down and Rouse explained that it was just an internal thing of approximately how it should look when its finished and it accidently made it outside of their own interal stuff. Both companies have moved on since then.
That sounds fine. But I won't stop laughing (heartily) at such an incredible blunder.
GUILTY!!! Guilty as charged. Don't just throw the book at them, throw an entire library! Lock them away under the jail!
And really, does Wizards not have pictures of dice already laying around?
They do! They've had this for years.