WOTC says official AD&D module remakes are for friends only

[Chewbacca]

Here is a snippet from the Bioware NWN forums.....
The WOTC representative's reply is first in bold, the original email requesting info comes after.

You are free to do whatever you want between yourself and your friends. We do NOT give permsission to reproduce our copyrighted material and post it publicly. ***************** ***************** ************* Adam Conus Wizards of the Coast - Game Support Asst. Manager Website: http://www.wizards.com Game Support E-Mail: custserv@wizards.com Game Support Phone: 1-800-324-6496 Monday through Friday, 9 AM - 7 PM PST Corporate Phone: (425) 226-6500 Online Store Phone: 1-800-250-7589 Online Store Email: ordersup@wizards.com Please quote this e-mail in any reply. ***************** ***************** ************* > -----Original Message----- > From: xxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:xxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.com] > Sent: Tuesday, June 25, 2002 11:31 AM > To: Wizards Customer Service > Subject: Reproducing Classic Modules in Neverwinter Nights > > > Hello, > > Recently, I've purchased the new computer game by Bioware, > Neverwinter Nights (NWN). As you no doubt are aware, NWN is > a licensed 3rd edition D&D product that essentially brings > pen and paper D&D to the computer. Included in the NWN > package is an editor that allows potential dungeon masters to > create their own areas with ease. > > Many members of the NWN community have expressed interest in, > and are perhaps in the process of reproducing official D&D > modules for use in NWN. I understand that Wizards of the > Coast holds the copywright on these works, and am hoping to > hear some official position from Wizards on this matter. If > and when Wizards does make an official statement on this > issue, I'd suggest having it posted tot he official NWN > community site hosted by Bioware as well as the Wizards home page. > > Finally, I would like to ask for permission to reproduce a > classic module, I2 - The Tomb of the Lizard King. The module > is 20 years old and holds fond memories for me. I'd like to > recreate the module for use in NWN to share the experience > with my current gaming partners. Obviously all intellectual > property would remain with Wizards, I would only claim > responsibility for porting it to NWN. My plan, when I'm > through with the module, is to make it freely available for > download to the NWN community. > > I look foward to hearing from you about these items. > > xxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx

I smell Officially licensed modules in the works, or is it just me?
How does this apply to book adaptations I wonder?

Well regardless, Everyone who owns NWN is now officially my friend! [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Lord of Alcohol]

I say make whatever adventure you want, including old TSR modules and ■■■■'em. What are they going to do? Sue? LOL sue me I have so much money LOL

[drewal]

You smell correctly Dr. Watson...there is little point in prohibiting the public modding of PnP material if they weren't planning on licensing it for NWN.

I imagine, the business goal would be to translate everything D&D into an online resource. You would then download mods with your credit card...etc. Bill Gates wanted to do this with MS products, but haven't heard much about it recently.

The question is, is NWN the right vehicle for that? Right now, its the only vehicle. Hopefully, Bioware won't rest on their already substantial laurels (though resting on substantial laurels is certainly a comfortable undertaking) and produce a NWNII which would combine the best elements of the Infinity Engine games and the Aurora Engine games.

As the man said, we here at IW are all friends...long time friends, bestest buddies and sweethearts [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Saltheart Foamfollower]

Develope your mods based on D n D mods, and as long as you do not sell them, there is not much WoTC can do... The best thing to do is, make subtle changes to the mod you are recreating, and the alterations should keep the company off your back.

Personally, WoTC does not have the resources to run every mod and see if it infringes upon their domain...

Personally I think WoTC has taken DnD and twisted it into something that does not resemble the adventures I played 25 years ago... WoTC created many a problem years back when they bought out the DnD license...

[drewal]

Since IW Forum posting is password-protected, and one has to register to post, it possesses many of the legal traits of a private club.

Not-for-profit distrubtion through a private club would probably qualify as "among friends." The MOD downloads could be distributed via a private, members-only area of IW.

[Larry_OHF]

I think as posted above, that as long as money is not involved in distribution of the mods...all is well.

[DeSoya]

There's little or nothing that WOTC can gain from producing "Officially licensed Modules." The contract on the builder says you can't charge for them and I imagine it would be like a post napster effect if WOTC did charge for their mods. Thousands of people have them, thousands of people have servers.... Pointless to do anything about it.

DeSoya

[Madriver]

I don't think there will be a problem, just don't try and sell them.

[Norfleet]

Selling them would be a futile endeavour.

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