You don't need to be a lawyer to know any of these things. It's specifically spelled out in the licenses that make it possible to release 3rd party derivatives as books and even electronic media like Knights of the Chalice. The licenses allow the creation and distribution of compatible content that has not been vetted, specifically by disassociating it with the brand in several clearly spelled out ways. Book of Erotic Fantasy was made by WotC designers and released 3rd party, it was going to use the branding of the D20 license but WotC exercised their rights and prevented them from publishing, so they released it under OGL instead.
Today people release under the DMsGuild. Do you have to be a lawyer to release your own content there without getting a notice of violation and removal from the store? No you just need to be able to read and follow instructions.
As voidofopinion said, there are a number of questionable and "inside the box" assumptions being made here about what could be possible in terms of indie game development in NWN:EE. Of course it's a given that anything along those lines would require a licensing decision on the part of Beamdog and WoTC. Even mods that aren't set in one of their proprietary settings still use NWN's art assets, engine, and game rules. And if they don't want to go there, that's the end of it. It's their game, after all.
What's being asked is whether (and/or to what extent) they would be willing to consider it. And with respect, no one here is in a position to speak for them about that.
1. You can not compare Amazon to gaming modules. I cannot go on Amazon and publish a book entitle "The Adventures of Drittz" without having WotC and Salvador knocking down my door. A gaming module, with no vetting process can have a character, or an entire module revolve around a Drow Ranger. As I said prior, thr site hosting said paid module, the content creator and the company who gave you licence to make the module can all be held accountable if it is determined a copyright infringement took place. A person who makes a module has little IP invested, especially when using the 3rd Edition D&D rules, this doesnt own the copyright to the work they are attempting to monetize. A person who sells a book on Amazon owns the copyright to do so.
2. Premium modules are a different animal than pay to play modules. This is how it would (probably work). A company or person will approach Beamdog about an idea about a module, Beamdog will then go to WotC, the company who holds the IP of the game, if this module would be suitable for their licence. If it is, Beamdog would fund (read pay for) the module that is created and collect all the sales money from the premium module and owning the copyright to it. THAT is how Bioware did it in the past.
3. As I stated previously as well, the User licence has a stimulant that, if Beamdog likes what you've created and they put it into the base game, they will attempt to credit you for your work. So if you do find a way to make the game more beautiful (without breaking everything else) than Beamdog might pay you for it.
Yes it is a false statement. Because Amazon does have that checkbox.
In the case you were to write such a book those who are challenging your right to sell such books would have to contact Amazon to remove it. In the case of Amazon a person outside of Seattle (who could not go to their office) would need to fill out a forum. This includes law enforcement agencies.
These take down requests are not uncommon and Amazon will remove such books once notified (and provided proof of this). As an author whose work was stolen and illegal sold on Amazon I first contacted and IP attorney and then contacted Amazon.
So no a person who uses the online marketplace known as Amazon does always have the right to do so. They instead clicked a check box when they were selling the book stating they owned the right to the book. The world is not that complicated.
On Amazon can you publish a book called Lord of the Rings about short people called hobbits dumping a magical ring into a volcano and escaping on a giant eagle?
My book comes in at just over a thousand pages, thanks in advance.
On Amazon can you publish a book called Lord of the Rings about short people called hobbits dumping a magical ring into a volcano and escaping on a giant eagle?
My book comes in at just over a thousand pages, thanks in advance.
On Amazon can you publish a book called Lord of the Rings about short people called hobbits dumping a magical ring into a volcano and escaping on a giant eagle?
My book comes in at just over a thousand pages, thanks in advance.
A thousand pages is an awful lot. Have you considered splitting it up into three parts?
A confirmation on if donations are allowed to be advertised inside these worlds would be a brilliant start and in an ideal world monetization would be great.
This one is a little funny, they acknowledge that J.K Rowlings owns the rights while violating the copyright and publishing the fan fiction. Works like this are taken down once it becomes popular enough for the take down requests.
1. You can not compare Amazon to gaming modules. I cannot go on Amazon and publish a book entitle "The Adventures of Drittz" without having WotC and Salvador knocking down my door. A gaming module, with no vetting process can have a character, or an entire module revolve around a Drow Ranger. As I said prior, thr site hosting said paid module, the content creator and the company who gave you licence to make the module can all be held accountable if it is determined a copyright infringement took place. A person who makes a module has little IP invested, especially when using the 3rd Edition D&D rules, this doesnt own the copyright to the work they are attempting to monetize. A person who sells a book on Amazon owns the copyright to do so.
2. Premium modules are a different animal than pay to play modules. This is how it would (probably work). A company or person will approach Beamdog about an idea about a module, Beamdog will then go to WotC, the company who holds the IP of the game, if this module would be suitable for their licence. If it is, Beamdog would fund (read pay for) the module that is created and collect all the sales money from the premium module and owning the copyright to it. THAT is how Bioware did it in the past.
3. As I stated previously as well, the User licence has a stimulant that, if Beamdog likes what you've created and they put it into the base game, they will attempt to credit you for your work. So if you do find a way to make the game more beautiful (without breaking everything else) than Beamdog might pay you for it.
Yes it is a false statement. Because Amazon does have that checkbox.
In the case you were to write such a book those who are challenging your right to sell such books would have to contact Amazon to remove it. In the case of Amazon a person outside of Seattle (who could not go to their office) would need to fill out a forum. This includes law enforcement agencies.
These take down requests are not uncommon and Amazon will remove such books once notified (and provided proof of this). As an author whose work was stolen and illegal sold on Amazon I first contacted and IP attorney and then contacted Amazon.
So no a person who uses the online marketplace known as Amazon does always have the right to do so. They instead clicked a check box when they were selling the book stating they owned the right to the book. The world is not that complicated.
So a multi-billion dollar corporation has the infrastructure to determine if an uploaded piece has a copyright infringement involved.
Do you think Beamdog has the assets to put into place the same type of infrastructure so they can make pennies off of a few fan made mods? It's more than a little check box. As I said before, who would monitor these uploads? Does paying for one person cover the cost Beamdog would make from monetizing?
Keep in mind that WotC also has a huge stake in this. Modders are using their IP for free. If Modders start collecting money, WotC will want their share of the pie as well.
A couple of points. First, copyright issues pertain whether one is making money or engaging in an unpaid hobby. If you make and distribute a Harry Potter themed NWN module, you're violating JK Rowling's copyright whether you're being paid for it or not. The need to "check a box" doesn't suddenly materialize for paid work in a way that's irrelevant to fan modding; if it's relevant for one, then it's relevant for the other. So I don't think that suggestions that commercial modding would be somehow different in this regard are correct.
Modding in the Forgotten Realms is straightforward because unpaid modding in that setting is obviously already licensed by WotC. (Otherwise, why would the toolset exist in the first place?) And that leaves aside the many NWN modules that were developed in custom story settings created and owned by their authors, and which don't use the Forgotten Realms IP.
The reason you have to "check a box" when you upload a book to the Kindle store is that Amazon is acting as a distributor for it. That is why they ask you to confirm that you own the rights to it. You don't have to do this when you use their software to make a Kindle file, which you then can distribute yourself. It's the same reason why Microsoft and Adobe don't ask if you own a story that you wrote in Word before saving it to PDF and doing the same. And distribution doesn't have to be part of a license to use an IP to build games. Unity is a simple counter-example.
While I think it would be interesting if BD wanted to go there, I don't think the real question is about setting up a "NWN distribution resource" for paid mods. It's simply about whether BD and WotC would find value in licensing their tools for such development, presumably for a fee or a cut of the proceeds -- and if so, under what conditions. The Premium Modules program was a limited example, where teams of NWN builders formed to put out what was essentially a commercial mod (e.g. Wyvern Crown of Cormyr) -- so it's not exactly without precedent.
I don't make a habit of confessing my age online, but I was already well past "young little rapscallion" when the Infinity Engine mods were first released.
In any event I was talking about NWN modding. Unlike Infinity, Aurora was released with an adventure building toolset that encouraged modding in FR. If you folks helped pave the way for that, then hat-tip to you.
My own 2 cents on this. From Pleb 4774367422578633’s point of view. Idea of pay also makes me angry. I’m only getting a go at the premium modules now because theyre shipping with DD. I am vehemiously opposed to monetising anything about NWN community creativity. If you monetise it there will be a shift from love to gain to do this stuff. Suddenly I can forsee us getting blanket bombed with tons and tons of garbage modules that spammers put five cents on to download. And off we go down the ‘Neverwinter MMO’ path imo. Constant harassment of pay for this and you will be able to do this. This kind of thing makes me want to head butt my screen. Huge difference for it to be a donation though. Would of certainly thrown a coin or two at some mods i’ve played in the past just out of appreciation of how much fun I had with them. Huge copyright headache? GOOD! Don’t turn community creativity into a sausage factory.
Comments
Today people release under the DMsGuild. Do you have to be a lawyer to release your own content there without getting a notice of violation and removal from the store? No you just need to be able to read and follow instructions.
What's being asked is whether (and/or to what extent) they would be willing to consider it. And with respect, no one here is in a position to speak for them about that.
Go ahead and make your own pay to play module and see where that leads you if you think all this copyright talk is B.S.
In the case you were to write such a book those who are challenging your right to sell such books would have to contact Amazon to remove it. In the case of Amazon a person outside of Seattle (who could not go to their office) would need to fill out a forum. This includes law enforcement agencies.
These take down requests are not uncommon and Amazon will remove such books once notified (and provided proof of this). As an author whose work was stolen and illegal sold on Amazon I first contacted and IP attorney and then contacted Amazon.
Amazon's forum for such: https://www.amazon.com/report/infringement
So no a person who uses the online marketplace known as Amazon does always have the right to do so. They instead clicked a check box when they were selling the book stating they owned the right to the book. The world is not that complicated.
My book comes in at just over a thousand pages, thanks in advance.
-JFK
https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Heiress-Harry-Potter-fanfiction-ebook/dp/B075BJ3B3R
This one is a little funny, they acknowledge that J.K Rowlings owns the rights while violating the copyright and publishing the fan fiction. Works like this are taken down once it becomes popular enough for the take down requests.
Do you think Beamdog has the assets to put into place the same type of infrastructure so they can make pennies off of a few fan made mods? It's more than a little check box. As I said before, who would monitor these uploads? Does paying for one person cover the cost Beamdog would make from monetizing?
Keep in mind that WotC also has a huge stake in this. Modders are using their IP for free. If Modders start collecting money, WotC will want their share of the pie as well.
Modding in the Forgotten Realms is straightforward because unpaid modding in that setting is obviously already licensed by WotC. (Otherwise, why would the toolset exist in the first place?) And that leaves aside the many NWN modules that were developed in custom story settings created and owned by their authors, and which don't use the Forgotten Realms IP.
The reason you have to "check a box" when you upload a book to the Kindle store is that Amazon is acting as a distributor for it. That is why they ask you to confirm that you own the rights to it. You don't have to do this when you use their software to make a Kindle file, which you then can distribute yourself. It's the same reason why Microsoft and Adobe don't ask if you own a story that you wrote in Word before saving it to PDF and doing the same. And distribution doesn't have to be part of a license to use an IP to build games. Unity is a simple counter-example.
While I think it would be interesting if BD wanted to go there, I don't think the real question is about setting up a "NWN distribution resource" for paid mods. It's simply about whether BD and WotC would find value in licensing their tools for such development, presumably for a fee or a cut of the proceeds -- and if so, under what conditions. The Premium Modules program was a limited example, where teams of NWN builders formed to put out what was essentially a commercial mod (e.g. Wyvern Crown of Cormyr) -- so it's not exactly without precedent.
Now to sit back and wait for a Pool of Radiance modder to come and call me a young punk.
In any event I was talking about NWN modding. Unlike Infinity, Aurora was released with an adventure building toolset that encouraged modding in FR. If you folks helped pave the way for that, then hat-tip to you.
And ignore the blueclear gradient--I'm speaking as an IE modder here, and not in any sort of official capacity.
From Pleb 4774367422578633’s point of view. Idea of pay also makes me angry. I’m only getting a go at the premium modules now because theyre shipping with DD. I am vehemiously opposed to monetising anything about NWN community creativity.
If you monetise it there will be a shift from love to gain to do this stuff. Suddenly I can forsee us getting blanket bombed with tons and tons of garbage modules that spammers put five cents on to download. And off we go down the ‘Neverwinter MMO’ path imo. Constant harassment of pay for this and you will be able to do this. This kind of thing makes me want to head butt my screen. Huge difference for it to be a donation though. Would of certainly thrown a coin or two at some mods i’ve played in the past just out of appreciation of how much fun I had with them. Huge copyright headache? GOOD! Don’t turn community creativity into a sausage factory.