We have been waiting for this since June 2004 and all publications such as 'Tradetalk', 'Unspoken Word', 'Kalikos Society', and alot of Convention support books such as 'Ye Book of Tentacles' and con books for Gloranthacon, Scottscon etc have not been able to publish until the Issaries Fan Publication Policy has been finalised.
It also looks as if Websites will now be hit by this policy, those that do not conform to the canon Glorantha may be pulled. Those with content that Issaries wants to publish will be pulled and then hang in limbo until such time Issaries can publish it (Issaries publishing shedule is snail-like at best!). Then the content could be changed considerably, making it hardly recognizable.
The worst thing is that Glorantha had to survive on the work of fan publications such as 'Tale of the Reaching Moon' and the con books of the Convulsion conventions. To top that Greg Stafford had to go around those conventions cap in hand to form the GTA. The Glorantha Trading Association. It is the fans that paid into the GTA that got Issaries started in the FIRST place!
Without that start there would be no Hero Wars or Heroquest published.
Its a policy that, from a glance, is allowing you to use registered trademarks and intellectual property in a published product (that you might even sell).
They have to protect their IP somehow. If they don't they lose it.
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Carceres et Dracones!! IV !!!
I might be posting from an iPad
Most companies do not allow *any* fan publications to be sold for money. White Wolf. WotC. AEG. Mongoose. Green Ronin. All have very strong views on infringement of their IP. None of them allow unlicensed publications for sale. Issaries is, frankly, close to being unique in allowing it.
Unfortunately, some of the fans are not aware of how often legal challenges have been mounted on IP. White Wolf handing off the Camarilla name to the Camarilla and then finding they'd lost use of that name is an interesting example of this.
Voriof
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Gloranthans are the freemasons of the gaming world - Ron Edwards
Blood over Gold - explore the wilds of Glorantha with the Trader Princes!
I think that people are forgetting Palladium Games, and their "user friendly" policy towards their fans and the internet.
__________________ Chris Helton
Creative Director for Solar Flare Productions | Dorkland! - My Blog | I am a Tampa Bay area Gamer and I am looking for other Gamers. | Check Out The Open Core System "It is, in fact, the newest Linux system upgrade for D20 - all the best things of what's come out so far wrapped into one package that looks somewhat different from the original but is far superior and retains all the best aspects." - Edmund Wilfong | In Development: Things and Stuff!| I am on Twitter and Facebook.
I imagine that their lawyers made them do this -- if you don't protect your IP, you essentially lose claim to it.
I am not a lawyer, but as far as I know this only applies to trademarks. Copyrights (and patents) are protected regardless of whether the owner takes action against infringement or not. Furthermore, copyright protection is automatic: whenever you create something, you automatically gain copyright. The only way to lose copyright is to actively surrender it.
Most companies do not allow *any* fan publications to be sold for money. White Wolf. WotC. AEG. Mongoose. Green Ronin. All have very strong views on infringement of their IP. None of them allow unlicensed publications for sale. Issaries is, frankly, close to being unique in allowing it.
However those companies were not funded by their fans via the GTA?
I am not a lawyer, but as far as I know this only applies to trademarks. Copyrights (and patents) are protected regardless of whether the owner takes action against infringement or not. Furthermore, copyright protection is automatic: whenever you create something, you automatically gain copyright. The only way to lose copyright is to actively surrender it.
And what if what you have created and are using is already part of someone's IP. Or so they claim. You, of course, are quite innovative and original and they stole your work for their own purpoes. Someone threatened to sue Marion Zimmer Bradly based on this. Apparently, much of what she wrote in one of the later Darkover novels bore a great resemblance to their fan-fic...
However those companies were not funded by their fans via the GTA?
No but those companies are funded by their fans via their purchases, so I don't see what the big difference is....crappy support of fans is crappy support of fans. At least your company doesn't have a practice of issuing Cease and Desist orders to their fans. Welcome to the rest of the world. :rolleyes:
__________________ Chris Helton
Creative Director for Solar Flare Productions | Dorkland! - My Blog | I am a Tampa Bay area Gamer and I am looking for other Gamers. | Check Out The Open Core System "It is, in fact, the newest Linux system upgrade for D20 - all the best things of what's come out so far wrapped into one package that looks somewhat different from the original but is far superior and retains all the best aspects." - Edmund Wilfong | In Development: Things and Stuff!| I am on Twitter and Facebook.
[HQ] Issaries Fan Publication Policy
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