My 5e DM just asked if I can share the CRB PDF with him since Archives of Nethys is a hard digest for him.
I don't want to violate copyright, but if I were to add the PDF to a FoundryVTT Journal Entry without him having access to the actual file (can only view the PDF, not share), would that be fine?
Is there another solution?
I want to clarify that I am not asking a question about enforceability or morality, just if it's legal within US copyright law.
Also, we don't meet in person. He lives on a different continent right now, and the rest of the group besides one live on the other side of the US.
To me, that sounds a lot like just sharing a hardcopy with someone, but I'm no lawyer!
The PDF for the Core Rulebook costs $20.
Perhaps your group could get together and buy him his own copy as a gift.
Well I'm the only one right now who is on board with switching to Pf2e, but he's at least a little interested. I don't think anyone wants to pay for it right now. I might, but I'm also currently out of disposable income.
All the rules are free online here, if you want to point him to it.
All the rules are free online here, if you want to point him to it.
Literally the first sentence of the original post:
My 5e DM just asked if I can share the CRB PDF with him since Archives of Nethys is a hard digest for him.
So unfortunately, that's not an option.
As for a solution to this, there's not much we can recommend on the official Paizo forums other than "just buy another copy of the CRB" or "check out AoN". However else you want to possibly share your copy to your would-be-DM is up to you.
I don't think OP is asking for recommendations so much as "is it legal to share the copy?"
Sorry, reading comprehension fail. :|
That said, the Rules page at that direct link is formatted much more like the PDF than the main AoN page. Too bad there's not a Humble Bundle active right now.
I don't think anyone can offer you real legal advice here, but at the end of the day sharing books and the content with your friends is part of the hobby. Letting a friend digitally look at your copy hardly sounds like piracy to me.
Probably the best way to legally share a PDF with a friend is to put the file on a tablet you own then loan your tablet to your friend for however long it takes to get through the book. I've exchanged kindles with my brother a bunch of times since they turned off sharing.
Not sure how you would go about this with someone who you don't get close enough to hand things to.
I assume this is a situation of "I want to read through it before I decide to buy the book."
I'm not sure if there's a correct legal answer to this question, I don't think it's ever been ruled on if sharing a pdf copy of a rulebook for a multiplayer game with someone you're inviting to play the game is fair use or not, in an industry where the default expectation is that it's played by like 6 people sharing a single physical rulebook.
The answer should probably be yes, and it's completely unenforceable regardless.
Generally I think that D20PFSRD has a much better organized structure than AON, so maybe that would be an option for your player? They have a 2E version as well:
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Generally I think that D20PFSRD has a much better organized structure than AON, so maybe that would be an option for your player? They have a 2E version as well:
Which is hopelessly outdated, doesn't include most rulebooks and has been for all practical purposes abandoned.
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Pretty sure the answer is that you can't legally share the PDF.
Think of it like a download of a movie. You're licensed to consume it. If there are other people in the room with you when you consume it, that's acceptable use; you're not sharing the file, you're watching it and other eyes exist. Blah, blah public performance excluded. The moment you provide access to the movie while you're not consuming it, you're violating license. Someone who is not the licensee is consuming it, and not even as a simultaneous hanger-on.
Even loading a tablet/laptop and loaning the hardware out is providing access to the file that is digitally licensed solely to you.
That said, it's kind of a don't-ask-don't-tell environment. I buy all the materials for my groups. If I'm a player and my DM wants to borrow the books for an AP to prep it for me, I hand over the books. If they want a copy of the PDF to extract art or hand-outs, I totally don't provide them a copy, wink wink, nudge nudge, know what I mean know what I mean?
Paizo will never state that they're okay with that kind of sharing because it's literally against the license. But they're also realists. If you are 100%, unreservedly confident that your DM won't share your PDF further and that they can be counted upon to remove it from their device(s) immediately so they can't "lose it", I would suggest that a wink is as good as a nudge to a blind bat. Know what I mean?
And as for those who are recommending various web sites with PRD content... come on guys. Those sites are excellent for reference and look-up, but they're not the right format for learning a game or casual perusal. Hardcover is king there, with PDF secondarily.
Which is hopelessly outdated, doesn't include most rulebooks and has been for all practical purposes abandoned.Generally I think that D20PFSRD has a much better organized structure than AON, so maybe that would be an option for your player? They have a 2E version as well:
Ah, well. I guess me not being up to date with PF2E shows here.
As the OP stated " if I were to add the PDF to a FoundryVTT Journal Entry without him having access to the actual file (can only view the PDF, not share)", they are not actually sharing the file. The file is not available for the viewer to save to their pc, and it can only be viewed while they are in the VTT instance with the owner of the file.
This seems like a long-distance way of passing a book across a table, with one exception... You don't have to worry about them running off with your book. Close the VTT and their access is gone.
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As the OP stated " if I were to add the PDF to a FoundryVTT Journal Entry without him having access to the actual file (can only view the PDF, not share)", they are not actually sharing the file. The file is not available for the viewer to save to their pc, and it can only be viewed while they are in the VTT instance with the owner of the file.
This seems like a long-distance way of passing a book across a table, with one exception... You don't have to worry about them running off with your book. Close the VTT and their access is gone.
Technicality, at best. So what... I set up a Remote Desktop Server and expose it to the Internet, allowing anyone I want to access it and use Adobe Reader to view all my Paizo PDFs, but disable the clipboard so the source files can't be extracted? Nope.
It's playing the same game as "I'm not sharing the DVD of {movie}... I've just put a camera in front of my TV and built a robot so you can press the DVD player's buttons."
If someone is accessing the content, they're accessing the content.
Physical book access works differently because you're not buying license to the book. You're buying the actual physical book, and your rights basically follow the physicality; what you can physically do, you can physically do, including giving it away.
License versus purchase. The question was about legality, and while I'm not a lawyer, it's pretty clear that file sharing of any sort is a license violation. It remains a question of what might be consider reasonable rule-bending. Sharing a file with your spouse? Seems a no-brainer even if it's illegal. Room-mate? Probably. But all still license violations.
IMHO, question asked and answered.
If you get the Pathfinder Nexus version you can share your library with your friends and family if you subscribe for.. I think it is 5/mo