Question about copyrights...

[Delekahn]

Hi,
I am almost done with my conversion of The Sunless Citadel. I was thinking that before I tried to post it, I should verify that I do not break any laws. Is it legal to distribute this mod?
Thanks,
Delekahn

[richvalle]

You know... I was wondering about that too when I saw your earlier post. I think if its something that people have to pay to use, then no you can't (or shouldn't). Converting it for your own use would be fine of course as is doing any free ones that are offered.

My view anyway.

rv

[Visigodo]

Im curious about this stuff to. Supose that i convert some Adventure from Dungeon Magazine and then i decide to share it, is this legal or not.

[Ged]

My guess is that without written consent to use copyrighted material, you shouldn't make it public, unless otherwise told in the copyright statement. Completely differnt issue is, of course, if you wish to give your private conversion available to the publisher to distribute as a digital extenstion to their product. Yet other publishers might consider their business that of creating hardcopies and be less jealous of the "fan base" making their products more visible in the market...

To quote richvalle, my view anyway

[msd]

I am a law student, but not a lawyer.

The following is not to be construed as legal advice or as expressly or impliedly creating a client attorney relationship.

Whew...I hate that. :lol:

To the best of my understanding and according to the letter of the law, a conversion is most likely a derivative work and once posted to a website, constitutes a violation of:

1) The right to copy
2) The right to create derivative works
3) The right to distribute

The outstanding question in my mind is whether posting a conversion is defensible as "fair use". For a number of reasons in my mind, I believe that it is, but I wholly admit that reasonable people could differ and that a reasonable person who differ's with me might be a seasoned copyright attorney.

The one piece of advice I will give.

I think we, as the community, need a collective answer to this question. Individual posters don't want to be liable for posting work that violates copyright violations and SmiteWorks certainly does not want (or should not want at least) to be held liable for hosting violating works.

I think the best thing we can do is to compose a group letter as "fans" of FG to WoTC and simply ask straight up what the policy is and where they stand. I would think that SmiteWorks would be interesting in joining this effort as well if for no other reason so than that they can formulate a Armory posting policy that conforms to US and international copyright law.

My sense is that we will get a quicker, more thoughtful response if we ask as a group...

Let me know what you guys think.

-Matt

[Durak]

If the quest is from a pay for product then i think only the buyer of that book can host the game. And cannot share it, as that would be breaking copyright.

Cause all your doing is playing then is the quest based on one book. But if you share, what your doing is copying the book and giving it out free. Which i doubt anyone would like in the wotsc or any other publisher.

The Free downloadable quests off the wotsc website are fine, cause they are open. Anyone can access them.

Dundjinni maps need certain things on them before can be shared, namely a compass icon and saying how it map made.

[Legacy]

I cannot speak in terms of Dundjinn but in terms of the SRD - basically anything that's in the SRD or is released under the OGL and designated Open Content should be usable with appropriate reference to the OGL. I am in no way or form an expert in the usage of OGL but every d20 product comes with an OGL statement and part of the OGL specifies what is open content and what is copy righted. I am a sw architect, not a lawyer!

In terms of the module, my guess is most of it is copyrighted - mine is packed away somewhere. I know Code Monkey Publishing has the rights to convert all Wizards content into data sets for E-Tools and PC Gen.

hmmm... just went and dug up the OGL... SRD Reference. This is also a great resource for the core d20 content that is open source!

And of course the official source... Wizards SRD.

Cheers,
BTS

[msd]

The Free downloadable quests off the wotsc website are fine, cause they are open. Anyone can access them.

This doesn't matter...whether the work is made available free or at cost has no bearing on the legal question of whether copyright rights vest in the author of the work. This is a settled proposition without dispute in American copyright law.

Hope that clarifies that issue.

-Matt

[Delekahn]

Hello,
I emailed Wizards cumstomer suppot:

Hello,
I own the DnD module The Sunless Citadel. I also
own the program Fantasy Grounds. I converted The
Sunless Citadel for use with my campaign in Fantasy
Grounds.
I would like permission to post my conversion on the
Fatasy Grounds forums, so that other people can use
it. Would this be possible?
If allowed, I also own The Forge of Fury, The
Speaker in Dreams, and The Standing Stone. I would
like to convert/post these as well.

Thank you for your time,

Delekahn

Here is the reply I received:

Hello there,

You'll need to write a physical mail with your request to:

Attn: Licensing
Wizards of the Coast
PO Box 707
Renton, WA 98057-0707

Good luck!

I think MSD'd idea of a group letter is a great idea. Personally, I don't think I have a shot in hell of getting permission. Maybe they could post my conversion. They would probably charge $6 a pop though.

I don't want Wizard's to loose money on a mod. I wonder how long until they become a type of public domain. I can't see them getting upset if we convert the Giants series, but these newer mods may still be an issue.

Later,
Delekahn

[Elric]

I sent Wizards an email also regarding doing *OLD OOP* Adventures such as Tomb of Horrors, Against the Giants/Descent/Vault/Queen of the Demonweb Pits and the Slaver series.

I just sent it tonight (before actually seeing this thread) so obviously I haven't heard anything back yet.