Date: Sun, 31 Jul 1994 19:25:00 UTC From: "John R. Troy (JRT--Mad Demiurge of Vargaard)" <[j troy] at [genie.geis.com]> Subject: Info about TSR's Blitz... OKAY--Here's Jay's response to me in the Gamers Topic at Scorpia's Roundtable. I've uploaded it here since it has the full letter text that's being sent around by TSR... Matt! Did they hit your site yet? TEXT BEGINS NOW.... Games RoundTable Category 1, Topic 3 Message 188 Sun Jul 31, 1994 LEADING.EDGE [Jay Adan] at 14:23 EDT JRT, WOTC was very quick to jump on this and upload their own letter telling people that they considered what other people do on the internet to be the equivilent of conversation and discussion among friends. That the sharing of ideas was a part of the game and they would have no part in trying to stop those discussions or the sharing of those ideas. Personally, I think that TSR is setting themselves up to lose lots of formerly loyal customers because the lawyers are getting their hands into too many different areas where they aren't really needed. - Jay Here's the letter that TSR is sending out. > >----------- Forwarded message --------------- >Date: Thu, 28 Jul 1994 15:07:18 -0700 >From: Shannon D. Appel <[a--p--l] at [soda.Berkeley.EDU]> >To: [ars magica] at [soda.berkeley.edu] >Subject: TSR Copyrights > >Just thought you might be interested in the mail that TSR is now sending to >archive sites all over the world (and my, a-hem, irritated reply). > >I'm pretty sure that TSR is in the wrong on the whole issue, since they're >not trying to protect copyrights or trademarks, but _ideas_ (ie game >systems) which do _not_ have protection. But, I'm willing to let them stab >themself in the foot. WoTC and the M:TG Juggernaut will roll right over >them. > >Shannon > >------------- Forwarded Messages > > >To: [p--ma--r] at [soda.berkeley.edu] >Date: Thu, 28 Jul 94 17:28:59 EDT >Subject: TSR Copyright > > > >System Administrator: > >You site was recently included in a list of noted FT sites for DUNGEONS AND >DRAGONS and ADVANCED DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS gaming material. You should be >awere that DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS and all related marks and properties are >copyrighted TSR, Inc. of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. > >You should also be aware that any items created without a specific licence >are infringements of TSR copyrights. Such items include (but are not >limited to) any software, net.books, modules, tables, stories, or rules >modifications which contain elements from our copyrighted properties, >including characters, settings, realm names, noted magic items, spells, >elements of the gaming system, such as ARMOR CLASS, HIT DICE, and so forth. >To date, TSR has not licenced any of these net publications. > >On behalf of TSR, Inc. I ask that you examine your public net sites at this >time and remove any material which infringes on TSR copyrights. > >Our intention is to find a way to licence these and future creative >efforts. In the meantime, remove them from your sites without delay. > >To clarify reasoning for this request, I recently posted the following >policy statement to rec.games.frp.dnd: > > As we have begun to explore the online community in depth, we've found > many avid gamers and fans. We're interested in providing you with the > best in gaming products that meet our own standards of quality, as well as > suiting other materials entirely for our own use. We think this is > great! However, when gamers begin sharing their creations with the > public, wether for profit or not, they are infringing our rights. If we > don't make an earnest attempt to prevent this infringment of our > trademarks and copyrights, our ownership of these extremely valuable > assests may be jeapodized. > > A gamer in this situation has a few options. He can strip every TSR > trademark and all copyright from his creations before putting them in > public (i.e. "genericize" the adventure). Or he can share his creations > with the public in a way that is licensed and approved by TSR. This is > the more desrable solution, as it protects our rights, and still leaves > room for gamers to share their creative expressions. > > Sometime very soon, we're going to create a place where gamers can legally > upload and share their creations, including modules, stories, and > software. At that time, I'd be happy to work with you to give your > product a base to work from. We are definitely interested in fostering > goodwill among customers, and we'd like to see our upcoming effort as a > pilot project. Eventually, we want gamers to be able to turn to TSR in > cyberspace as easily as they do in a hobby store. > >Please feel free to contact me with comments or questions. I will refer any >pertinent queries to our legal department as soon as I receive them. > > >Rob Repp | InterNet: [t s rinc] at [aol.com] >Manager, Digital Projects Group | InterNet: [m--bi--s] at [mercury.mcs.com] >TSR, Inc. | CompuServe: 76217,761 >___________________________________| GEnie: TSR.Online AOL: TSR Inc > ------------ TEXT ENDS HERE... I hope they don't wipe us out :-( Prepare to take everything to private E-Mail soon... JRT [j troy] at [genie.geis.com] The Mad Demiurge was absorbed--long live the Cerebral Demiurge!!!