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Back in the oooolllldddd (1e) days of D&D, there were several 3rd party companies that produced adventures (modules from one-shots to campaigns). Most of these companies are no longer around.
Some of the products produced would be worth updating to PF or 4e (or maybe both) by an enterprising person. But at what cost?
THE QUESTION:
Who owns the copyrights on these old modules now that the publisher is no longer around?
The original author? (my guess)
How would one get in touch with the owner to get permission to update the product?
What would be the 'normal' amount that the original author would be entitled to of this update?
Is the convoluted nature of this why we don't see updates of lots of the good old modules?
If the video game industry is any guideline, the company still holds the copyright. Yes, even if the company no longer exists.
The answer, of course, is "it depends".
But assuming that the copyright belonged to the company and no one else (e.g. the product was a work for hire), then my layman's guess is that it's an asset of the company; if the company dissolved, then presumably the assets were distributed somehow.
It is also possible for the company to still exist even if it is inactive. FASA is a good example. The company no longer produces Earthdawn, Battletech, or Shadowrun, but it still exist and retains the copyrights.
The same may be said for the Judges Guild. Both Necromacer and Goodman Games produced 3.5 versions of some of their old 1e products, but I don't think they actually possess the rights to the original products.
Some of it depends on the original copyright holder.
I did some work with Dark City Games a few years back, and the owner had bought the rights to the name The Fantasy Trip back when the copyright expired. Now they are doing TFT compatible (mostly) games.
The original advnetures are still in limbo though...
Who owns the copyrights on these old modules now that the publisher is no longer around?Mildred and Patty Hill of Louisville, Kentucky.
Wait... what was the question?
Sadly Mildred has passed on and the rights are now held by Mildred's second cousin Sharlene and her husband Roy by contract with Patty Hill.
Chief Technical Officer
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Sadly Mildred has passed on and the rights are now held by Mildred's second cousin Sharlene and her husband Roy by contract with Patty Hill.Who owns the copyrights on these old modules now that the publisher is no longer around?Mildred and Patty Hill of Louisville, Kentucky.
Wait... what was the question?
Wikipedia says that Sharlene and Roy Hill have been purchased by Time Warner.
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Wikipedia says that Sharlene and Roy Hill have been purchased by Time Warner.Sadly Mildred has passed on and the rights are now held by Mildred's second cousin Sharlene and her husband Roy by contract with Patty Hill.Who owns the copyrights on these old modules now that the publisher is no longer around?Mildred and Patty Hill of Louisville, Kentucky.
Wait... what was the question?
<shakes a Fist of Doom at the media conglomerate>
Keep yer mitts offa my out of print games, you faceless media megacorps!!
Not to mention a message board...
I thought about this myself as I would LOVE to update and circulate the Historic Reference books of 2e. I think they are owned by TSR, therefore WotC. I doubt there's a shot in hades that they'd want it changed for Pathfinder or 3.5 at this point.
* Sorry friends, I just don't like 4e and so a conversion to 4e wouldn't happen.
Mildred and Patty Hill of Louisville, Kentucky.
Wait... what was the question?
"How many woodchucks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a lightbulb?"
I thought about this myself as I would LOVE to update and circulate the Historic Reference books of 2e. I think they are owned by TSR, therefore WotC. I doubt there's a shot in hades that they'd want it changed for Pathfinder or 3.5 at this point.
* Sorry friends, I just don't like 4e and so a conversion to 4e wouldn't happen.
Hmmm... I´m not sure about that, but there were conversions of 2e stuff to 3e that were (I think) within the rights of the OGL. They contained only the technical data, the stats of characters and creatures and so on. I don´t know if that was truly legal, and I can´t judge if it would be now. Pure historical facts are not copyrightable IMO, so you would only have to worry about the game content. But IANAL, so take care. But there should not be too much game rule content in those books anyway, IIRC. Most of them should still be usable easily.
Stefan
Not to mention a message board...
No... really? S@$*. Man, I really f~@!ed up.
Sorry, Kruely. I was hoping to kind of put that out there quietly, without shaming anyone publicly, but alas, my sensitivity and subtlety couldn't cover up the obvious application to you. Hang in there, man.
I thought about this myself as I would LOVE to update and circulate the Historic Reference books of 2e. I think they are owned by TSR, therefore WotC. I doubt there's a shot in hades that they'd want it changed for Pathfinder or 3.5 at this point.
* Sorry friends, I just don't like 4e and so a conversion to 4e wouldn't happen.
Hmmm... I´m not sure about that, but there were conversions of 2e stuff to 3e that were (I think) within the rights of the OGL. They contained only the technical data, the stats of characters and creatures and so on. I don´t know if that was truly legal, and I can´t judge if it would be now. Pure historical facts are not copyrightable IMO, so you would only have to worry about the game content. But IANAL, so take care. But there should not be too much game rule content in those books anyway, IIRC. Most of them should still be usable easily.
Stefan
Thanks for the thoughts, and yes, you're right that historical facts cannot be copyrighted, but plagerism may be charged unless you start from scratch. I know a couple patent attorneys, but they deal in engineering and use the motto "when in doubt, don't!".
You know, one option might be to offer to have someone on your hypothetical crew, who knows 4E well, to update them to 4E in exchange for giving you the rights to update them to PF.I thought about this myself as I would LOVE to update and circulate the Historic Reference books of 2e. I think they are owned by TSR, therefore WotC. I doubt there's a shot in hades that they'd want it changed for Pathfinder or 3.5 at this point.
* Sorry friends, I just don't like 4e and so a conversion to 4e wouldn't happen.
That's an idea... I fear the only thing that could kill it is if WotC is really as against pathfinder as I've often read, but you can only truly believe what is said if it is spoken from the source's mouth. I'll have to see if I can find a contact at WotC or perhaps even Hasbro (I used to work in the toy industry and had a few contacts around). Thanks
That's an idea... I fear the only thing that could kill it is if WotC is really as against pathfinder as I've often read, but you can only truly believe what is said if it is spoken from the source's mouth. I'll have to see if I can find a contact at WotC or perhaps even Hasbro (I used to work in the toy industry and had a few contacts around). ThanksYou know, one option might be to offer to have someone on your hypothetical crew, who knows 4E well, to update them to 4E in exchange for giving you the rights to update them to PF.I thought about this myself as I would LOVE to update and circulate the Historic Reference books of 2e. I think they are owned by TSR, therefore WotC. I doubt there's a shot in hades that they'd want it changed for Pathfinder or 3.5 at this point.
* Sorry friends, I just don't like 4e and so a conversion to 4e wouldn't happen.
Happy to help.
Does this mean in the (admittedly perhaps unlikely) event you do get the rights and pull it off, that I get a free copy :) lol.
For something like that.... definately. ;)
kyrt-ryder, sorry... I meant to post that as Wicked K Games instead of Kakarasa...
That's an idea... I fear the only thing that could kill it is if WotC is really as against pathfinder as I've often read, but you can only truly believe what is said if it is spoken from the source's mouth. I'll have to see if I can find a contact at WotC or perhaps even Hasbro (I used to work in the toy industry and had a few contacts around). Thanks
WOTC isn't "against" Pathfinder as some deep dark malevolent conspiracy. It's just the plain simple fact that the two companies are now competing in the same sphere. Nothing more sinister than that. It does mean however that WOTC isn't going to be keen on supplying Pathfinder with any freebie help to be their new competition.
Fact is WOTC has exited 3.5 that's over and a done deal to them. They simply however have no interest in letting other systems such as Mastermind or Pathfinder keeping the fires burning for 3.5 when their main interest is in selling 4.0. There's also the possible complication that when TSR made some of these works they were using limited licenses that they themselves no longer have rights to.
I speculated as much. I will do something either way sometime next year, but as for now I have my hands full with 5 other projects I've got lined up. I just perused through the document and realized so much has changed that it's pretty much useless at this point. I guess it was the illustrations I really liked and I'm just going to have to start from scratch. I've got an art major that may be coming onboard after she graduates... I'll have to talk with her about this (I'm a fan of her work, it'll be in the character sheet that will be released next).
Move along citizens, there is nothing to see here.
I even had to change my name because of copyright issues.
