They sound really good, so I just got some of the books, mostly 3E with a couple of AD&D ones. Now, let us say I ended up liking Ravenloft and Dragonlance as much as I hope to, and decide to write a guide to playing Ravenloft with Pathfinder rules, and a similar guide for Dragonlance, and offered these guides online for free. Would I be violating any copyrights?
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Here's some Ravenloft goodness. . . <Click Me>
Here is the topic thread <Click ME>
<Click ME> Here's a little bit of DL stuff, and you can search the website for a little more.
and there is a lot more, it is just hidden amongst the different Gaming topics. Also, click on some of the author's names, and you can find other little options. :)
Thanks for the links. They are much appreciated. I want to play Ravenloft with Pathfinder rules because Ravenloft looks awesome and Pathfinder is my favorite D20 system game by far.
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You are most welcome, .
For PathFinder material, Ustalav is based off of Ravenloft (sort of). On the Paizo site, you can get the Players Guide for FREE, and there are two major things you might be interested in. The Carrion Crown Adventure Path and Rule of Fear, (a guide to Ustalav). The PG and Rule by Fear are amazing, in my opinion. I love the AP, too, but kind of expensive.
<Also, I added more since you posted, I think. May want to recheck.>
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I made a mistake above, this should be the link the the MistFinder PDF
, though I am deployed, and I can not open that page to see if it actually works correctly. Enjoy :)
I made a mistake above, this should be the link the the MistFinder PDF
, though I am deployed, and I can not open that page to see if it actually works correctly. Enjoy :)
Military? What branch? I was Navy for a time, but medical issues cut that short.
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Army. I'm a medic in Afghanistan. Fun fun. . .
You may also be interested in this?
A Podcast I found and have spent days attempting to actually download it :(
Army. I'm a medic in Afghanistan. Fun fun. . .
Have peaceful time. Also, if you happen to meet any Polish soldiers, say "Czesc" (Hi/Hello/Bye) (Pronounciation)
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Ask a lawyer.
What you shouldn't do is ask the Internet.
There was an old Ravenloft boxed set, and some Van Helsing's guides that were pure win back in the day. You might be able to score the box on ebay.
No, you're completely fine as long as you're not selling it. See Mistfinder who is already doing the same thing. Also Fraternity of Shadows which is, AFAIK, the foremost Ravenloft fan community online.
I'm working on converting a series of Ravenloft adventures (the Grand Conjunction) to Pathfinder and I plan on running it next fall. I'm using a combination of PF rules with some house rules and 3.5 stuff. The monsters have all been converted to 3.5 by Arthaus/White Wolf a while back, and those books are still available though sometimes at an outrageous price.
What sort of guide do you plan on writing? Maybe we could help one another. Also I played Dragonlance with 3.5/PF for a year or more.
Hiya.
Yes, you'd be violating copyrights and intellectual property held by WOTC as the purchaser of TSR's properties.
...and...
No, you're completely fine as long as you're not selling it.
See? This is why you don't "ask the internet". Do your own research on Copyright and Trademark. They are *two different things*.
Could you do it? Yes. Would you be violating WotC property? Yes. Would they sue you? Not likely. The factor of free or not has *nothing* to do with copyright violation. Period. Where that comes into play is when/if you find yourself in court. The courts will look at the case, and then, if found guilty, you would be likely asked to pay WotC for financial harm you caused...but if you gave it away for free, then that is taken into account. Most likely you'd be paying WotC lawyer fees and possibly some minor fee.
So, from what I have read about, you are unlikely to be "sued" by WotC simply because it is not in their best interest to sue a fan for making something for their game that is "put on the net for free". If, however, you then become hugely successful and you get a reputation for excelent Ravenloft modules that easily compete with WotC's stuff....then you may find a lawyer on your phone or at your door. Because at that point, you may be directly 'harming' WotC's potential to produce Ravenloft stuff themselves.
Still...go do your own research and consult a lawyer or make your own determination.
^_^
Paul L. Ming
There was an old Ravenloft boxed set, and some Van Helsing's guides that were pure win back in the day. You might be able to score the box on ebay.Van Helsing was a character in the novel Dracula... ;-p
The character you're looking for is Van Richten... :-)
D'oh!
Hiya.
Yes, you'd be violating copyrights and intellectual property held by WOTC as the purchaser of TSR's properties....and...
No, you're completely fine as long as you're not selling it.See? This is why you don't "ask the internet". Do your own research on Copyright and Trademark. They are *two different things*.
Could you do it? Yes. Would you be violating WotC property? Yes. Would they sue you? Not likely. The factor of free or not has *nothing* to do with copyright violation. Period. Where that comes into play is when/if you find yourself in court. The courts will look at the case, and then, if found guilty, you would be likely asked to pay WotC for financial harm you caused...but if you gave it away for free, then that is taken into account. Most likely you'd be paying WotC lawyer fees and possibly some minor fee.
So, from what I have read about, you are unlikely to be "sued" by WotC simply because it is not in their best interest to sue a fan for making something for their game that is "put on the net for free". If, however, you then become hugely successful and you get a reputation for excelent Ravenloft modules that easily compete with WotC's stuff....then you may find a lawyer on your phone or at your door. Because at that point, you may be directly 'harming' WotC's potential to produce Ravenloft stuff themselves.
Still...go do your own research and consult a lawyer or make your own determination.
^_^
Paul L. Ming
Pretty much this. I'm not as sure how far I'd trust WotC after the OGL snafu--though every company, corporation will be different. Anne McCaffrey was somewhat infamous for chasing down fan fiction and fan fiction writers. Other authors don't care as much.
I remember an author-blog once: we love it, just don't tell us about it, because it puts us in an awkward place.
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As I understand it, as long as whatever you produce is for your personal use, you're fine. But distributing it to anyone else, even if you don't charge for it, is a violation.
But I'm not a lawyer and before you do something which could incur thousands of dollars in legal fees and damages if WotC decides to take offense at your activities, you should consult a lawyer.
As I understand it, as long as whatever you produce is for your personal use, you're fine. But distributing it to anyone else, even if you don't charge for it, is a violation.
But I'm not a lawyer and before you do something which could incur thousands of dollars in legal fees and damages if WotC decides to take offense at your activities, you should consult a lawyer.
So here's where I'm confused then, and I don't mean to pick on you but everyone who is on the cautious side of this.
How is THIS THREAD which uses the names Ravenloft and Dragonlance, posted on a public forum, not violating the trademark?
How is a personal email between two people discussing their Ravenloft/Dragonlance game, or various novels, not infringing on trademarks?
So, as long as you don't actually reprint old material or do your own updates of monsters/npcs/feats/etc., and your guide is just that, how to run it, what houserules to use, how to set the tone, and especially if you suggest the 3.5 versions of the books that have been published as player/dm resources, I can't imagine how that wouldn't be fine. Just talking about something isn't infringing on trademark. No matter how many people see you talking about it.
I guess I could be wrong, but if I am we live in a scarier world than I realized.
I think I'll abandon this and work on a setting book for World of Darkness. Much easier to do, as White Wolf has a policy of tolerating such works (to the point where their website's moderators maintain a public list of links to them all) so long as they are non-commercial. They also allow cWOD to nWOD conversion guides, but the only one without a conversion guide already is Mummy, and the official nWOD Mummy is coming out sometime soon, so there is no point.
I think I'll abandon this and work on a setting book for World of Darkness. Much easier to do, as White Wolf has a policy of tolerating such works (to the point where their website's moderators maintain a public list of links to them all) so long as they are non-commercial. They also allow cWOD to nWOD conversion guides, but the only one without a conversion guide already is Mummy, and the official nWOD Mummy is coming out sometime soon, so there is no point.
It is not a bad idea. I would have loved to see the guides. Mind, I'm just overly cautious after the OGL snafu. WotC probably wouldn't do anything. It's just that the sour taste of all the small businesses that went under tends to linger.
And then you've examples such as the late Anne McCaffrey. ...it's always safer to go with an open policy.
Shame, that. I get the feeling there's a lot of "community-driven" creativity out there. Not things that interfere with the product, more enhance it. Famous examples: mods to Morrowind.
I think I'll abandon this and work on a setting book for World of Darkness. Much easier to do, as White Wolf has a policy of tolerating such works (to the point where their website's moderators maintain a public list of links to them all) so long as they are non-commercial. They also allow cWOD to nWOD conversion guides, but the only one without a conversion guide already is Mummy, and the official nWOD Mummy is coming out sometime soon, so there is no point.It is not a bad idea. I would have loved to see the guides. Mind, I'm just overly cautious after the OGL snafu. WotC probably wouldn't do anything. It's just that the sour taste of all the small businesses that went under tends to linger.
And then you've examples such as the late Anne McCaffrey. ...it's always safer to go with an open policy.
Shame, that. I get the feeling there's a lot of "community-driven" creativity out there. Not things that interfere with the product, more enhance it. Famous examples: mods to Morrowind.
Tell me which setting you want.
There are some good fan-made city setting books out there, but I want to do something a bit larger. I have a shortlist, and whichever one gets the most interest, I make.
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Mr. Gone might also be interested in helping spread the word, and there are some nice free fan made stuff there, too.
I would like a Corpus Christi, Tx, if that's an open invitation. :p
I think I'll abandon this and work on a setting book for World of Darkness. Much easier to do, as White Wolf has a policy of tolerating such works (to the point where their website's moderators maintain a public list of links to them all) so long as they are non-commercial. They also allow cWOD to nWOD conversion guides, but the only one without a conversion guide already is Mummy, and the official nWOD Mummy is coming out sometime soon, so there is no point.
Sorry for off-topic... It is? I haven't checked WW site for some time... Ok, for a long-long time. Interesting what they will be up to.
Ugh, who picked the color. Hm, Mummy will be in Aug... Victorian Changeling?! Yay!
Hiya.
So here's where I'm confused then, and I don't mean to pick on you but everyone who is on the cautious side of this.How is THIS THREAD which uses the names Ravenloft and Dragonlance, posted on a public forum, not violating the trademark?
How is a personal email between two people discussing their Ravenloft/Dragonlance game, or various novels, not infringing on trademarks?
IANAL, but, from what I remember when I did my Copyright/Trademark research years ago...there is something that addresses that. Basically, if you have to use a product and/or companies name in order to articulate what you are talking about to someone else, that is "fair use". It can be verbal or in print. It doesn't matter. That's why it isn't a violation to talk about Ravenloft, for example. But, alas, the Powers That Be are constantly trying to rewrite copyright and trademark (mostly copyright) laws or twist them to cover things they simply do not, and were never intended, to enforce. Just look at the recent spat of legal schinannigans going on with regards to Facebook and twitter over people who host negative comment on political figures and such.
^_^
Paul L. Ming
Everyone's telling you to talk to a lawyer-- and they're absolutely right-- but what they're not saying is that you don't need to hire a lawyer unless you're trying to make money. Wizards got a handful of shark IP lawyers working for them and it's their job to talk to you about this, literally. Their job isn't to give Wizards legal advice about what to do with their own property, it's to give other people free-- and often unwelcome-- legal advice on what Wizards is going to tolerate.
They hire lawyers to do this because it's cheaper to hire lawyers you can talk to than to hire lawyers to sue your ass off. Wizards is never going to make money off of taking you to court; it loses them money and it's bad press with their customers. Everyone loses.
So before you decide to do or not do something, send an email to custserv asking them what they think you can get away with. Won't hurt anything, and they'll be honest with you about what they think is okay and what's not okay. If you're not trying to make money, then you have absolutely no reason to push the envelope. Stick within the bounds of what they say they're cool with and not only will they have no reason to sue you, but if you keep copies of your correspondence, their own lawyers will also tell them to leave you alone.
Remember, civil law isn't about what's strictly legal and what isn't-- it's about what property owners think is worth enforcing. The key is not to assume that something is worth enforcing or it isn't, but to ask the people whose job it is to enforce it. They have a vested interest in giving you good advice.