You can download a fan site kit, which is a zip file of images, I guess. Here's the policy you must comply with before accepting the kit:
Quote:
Fan Site Kit Policy
Wizards of the Coast LLC ("Wizards") is grateful for the enthusiastic and long-standing support our games have received from fans, customers, and collectors. We appreciate that user communities for our games enjoy sharing information, experiences, and opinions about our products, and we want to encourage that sharing. One of the most popular and convenient ways to share is on websites owned or operated by our fans, collectors and commentators ("Fan Sites"). For that reason, we have developed this website to provide you with trademarks and logos, product images, artwork, and other trademarked and/or copyrighted materials that have been pre-approved by Wizards ("Wizards Materials") for your use on your Fan Site. We encourage you to use these materials, post your character sheets for Dungeons & Dragons®, create fan fiction, display your personal artwork, and just have fun on your Fan Site.
Please note that this Fan Site Policy does not allow you to publish, distribute or sell your own free-to-use games, modules or applications for any of Wizards' brands including, but not limited to, Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering. If you want to engage in any of these activities related to Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition, such use is subject to the Game System License http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=d20/welcome. For questions concerning digital rights for all other Wizards brands, please visit www.wizards.com/customerservice.
Use of Wizards Materials on Fan Sites
Wizards is providing Wizards Materials in the Dungeons & Dragons® tool kit and the Magic: The Gathering® tool kit (each a "Tool Kit") for use on your Fan Site or other Social Media platform. Please feel free to use these Tool Kits to enhance your site or personal pages, but make sure your use of the Wizards Materials complies with the guidelines and stays within the permitted uses and policies set out in this Fan Site Policy (the "Policy"). Any other uses of Wizards Materials on your Fan Site must be pre-approved by Wizards in writing. Wizards will be adding new content to the Tool Kits periodically, so be sure to check back!
The "suits" in Wizards' legal department require us to tell you that Wizards Materials in the Tool Kits are for your personal Fan Site use only, and that the rights and permissions we grant to you in this Policy are personal to you. You may not transfer or assign these rights to any third party. They also want us to point out that by using any content available on the Wizards.com website, you acknowledge your acceptance of this Policy and the Wizards.com website Terms of Use ("Terms of Use") http://ww2.wizards.com/Company/Defau...iteLegalNotice. This Policy is part of the Terms of Use, and may be modified or terminated by Wizards at any time in accordance with the Terms of Use. Also, we reserve the right to revoke this limited use license at any time, for any reason, and at the sole discretion of Wizards.
Now that we've satisfied legal, here are the guidelines and policies for use of the Wizards Materials:
Wizards' Trademarks and Product Images. You may use Wizards' trademarks and copyrighted product images and printed materials provided in the relevant Tool Kit only for the purpose of display, identification and discussion of Wizards' products as expressly permitted in this Policy. You may not use Wizards trademarks on or in connection with products other than genuine Wizards products, unless such use is specifically granted to you under the terms of the Game System License ("GSL") http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=d20/welcome or another separate written contract with Wizards.
Social Networking Websites. You may use Wizards Materials on your personal pages on the social networking sites Facebook® and MySpace®, and other social networking websites that are substantially similar; provided, however that your use remains compliant with this Policy and the policies, terms and conditions of those sites. Wizards accepts no responsibility whatsoever in connection with or arising from your activities on such sites.
No Alteration. If you download Wizards Materials from a Wizards' Tool Kit, you must display such Wizards Materials without alteration (except that you may make proportionate reductions in size as technically necessary to accommodate posting on your Fan Site).
Use of Non-Public Information Prohibited. You may not publish, display, exhibit or use any information about products (including any photographs, game text, rules, or drawings of such new products or their prototypes) that has not already been released to the general public by Wizards or that Wizards has otherwise expressly authorized for release to the collector community.
No Fee or E-Commerce Activity. Your Fan Site is for your own personal use. You may not charge any fee to customers or visitors to your Fan Site for use of the Wizards Materials that you have posted, unless such activity is specifically granted to you under the terms of the GSL or another separate written contract between you and Wizards. You may not engage in any e-commerce activities on your Fan Site including, but not limited to, sale of products or professional services. For purposes of this Policy, donations/tip jars and general advertising are not considered "e-commerce" activities.
No Endorsement or Sponsorship. You may not use or display Wizards' trademarks or copyrighted materials in a manner likely to create the impression that Wizards is an official sponsor or author of your Fan Site, or that Wizards endorses or has otherwise expressly licensed the Fan Site. Any endorsement or sponsorship must be approved by Wizards in a separate agreement.
Link to Wizards' Webpage, Not to a File. When providing links to Wizards' documents, we ask that Fan Sites link to the appropriate Wizards webpage and not directly to the document file. This allows users to access the most up-to-date information.
Trade Dress and Advertising Elements. Although imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, you may not imitate Wizards' logos, trade dress, or other elements of Wizards product packaging and website. Such imitation could result in confusion for others about a Fan Sites' affiliation with or sponsor ship by Wizards.
Merchandise Items Bearing Wizards' Trademarks or Materials: You may not manufacture, sell, or give away merchandise items such as T-shirts or mugs that bear any Wizards trademark or include Wizards' copyright materials, except pursuant to an express written trademark license. Wizards also reserves all rights to extend our copyrighted materials into other media. You may not write, produce or create any novels, theatrical productions or other adaptations that include our copyrighted materials without our express written permission. If you are interested in engaging in these activities, please contact www.wizards.com/customerservice.
You May Not Change or Manipulate Wizards' Audio-visual Materials. You may not download, display, exhibit or otherwise use sound tracks, sound bites, phonorecords, motion pictures, videos, DVD or other streamed moving images (either full-length or clips) from the Wizards website or other sources that contain Wizards copyrighted materials or trademarks except as provided in the tool kit. Such audio-visual materials often are subject to production and distribution agreements with third parties. Accordingly, you should only link to such material where it is hosted on our website unless otherwise provided to you in a tool kit.
You may not make content from the Wizards website (audio-visual materials excluded) available through your own site if such use entails Wizards hosting such content for you on Wizards' website. For example, you may not make available on a Fan Site any content from Wizards' Web site in a frame, mirror, Iframe, widget, nor may you link directly to a wallpaper file hosted on Wizards' website.
Inaccurate, Obscene or Libelous Statements Prohibited. Wizards welcomes and encourages honest discussion and opinions about all Wizards products on Fan Sites. However, we cannot allow Wizards Materials be used on any Fan Site that promotes sexually explicit materials, violence, discrimination or illegal activities, or makes disparaging, libelous or dishonest statements about Wizards and/or its products, employees and agents. We know you'll keep it clean. We Invite You to Ask Wizards
In addition to visiting our website, Wizards invites you to ask us whatever questions you may have about using the Wizards Materials on your Fan Site. Please visit Wizards' customer service webpage www.wizards.com/customerservice. We will do our best to give you timely responses to your questions. Please be aware that there may be some questions that we cannot answer because the information is confidential, trade secret information that Wizards cannot release to the public.
What if my Fan Site Doesn't Comply with the Policy?
One last reminder from Wizards' legal. We love to see all the amazingly creative Fan Sites and hope that by clearly communicating the Policy for use of Wizards Materials, we can avoid misunderstandings regarding use of such materials on your Fan Site. However, if Wizards becomes aware of infringing and/or objectionable uses of Wizards Materials on your Fan Site, Wizards will contact you and/or your Fan Site operator to try to resolve the matter. If we are unable to reach a reasonable resolution, or if we become aware of a pattern of violations of our Policy, we may pursue appropriate legal action.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation with this Policy.
The whole thing seems typically misguided and short-sided (that jokey use of the word "suits" is particularly painful), but this paragraph struck me in particular:
Quote:
Please note that this Fan Site Policy does not allow you to publish, distribute or sell your own free-to-use games, modules or applications for any of Wizards' brands including, but not limited to, Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering.
So you can't put your own adventure up on your website? What if you put a generic fantasy adventure with no stats in it? Where does the One-Page Dungeon contest fit in to this?
It looks like if you want to make a free adventure you'd need to sign the GSL and have them agree to it. The fan site policy would seem to allow you to provide an adventure you create under the GSL. I'm a little confused about the no E-Commerce thing though, as it would seem under the GSL you could sell stuff over the internet, so it seems relatively pointless with the GSL.
The so-called Fan Site Kit Policy is a contract, and it bones anyone who agrees to it. Even worse, by calling it a “policy”, Wizards is contributing to the confusion about fans’ legal rights by making it seem like fans need to agree to this license to operate a fan site. I won’t cast aspersions upon the designers and managers at Wizards of the Coast, but their legal department are a bunch of tools who know exactly what kind of deceptive shenanigans they are trying to pull with this so-called “policy”.
Do the people behind these decisions not take a look at how other companies in the industry are doing it?
What's really bad is what is in it. I would assume a fansite toolkit of art would have a lot of art. It has:
22 book/module covers
11 general pictures
4 logos
1 'product art' (ie. a picture of the Players Handbook Heroes box 1)
__________________ Trade references available upon request, or upon search in the Sales! Auctions! forum.
My favorite book swapping site! Join and get free books! PM me here and let me know who you are after you register, and if you used me as the referral, I will send you a free book credit on top of what PBS gives you after the referral is complete (ie. you have your bookshelf listed).
Inaccurate, Obscene or Libelous Statements Prohibited. Wizards welcomes and encourages honest discussion and opinions about all Wizards products on Fan Sites. However, we cannot allow Wizards Materials be used on any Fan Site that promotes sexually explicit materials, violence, discrimination or illegal activities, or makes disparaging, libelous or dishonest statements about Wizards and/or its products, employees and agents. We know you'll keep it clean. We Invite You to Ask Wizards
Not looking good, that one. Granted, the whole thing is likely to be unenforceable.
__________________ Oswig studied Moncrief for a long moment. "Doubtless, you are a deep-dyed scholar, and a past master of poodle-de-doodle. Also, you have read several books. Still, your knowledge of Star Home is a muddle, and your theories are bunk."
Moncrief blinked, but maintained his sangfroid. "I will give your comments careful study. They may well illuminate the unusual quirks of local custom."
-- Jack Vance: Lurulu
It seems like whoever wrote this is thinking a "fan site" is literally something along the lines of "My name is Billy and Dungeons and Dragons is my favoritest game ever! Let me tell you the story I wrote about my dragon-man paladin." Whereas what most of us were wanting is "tell us your policy on posting our homebrew monsters and items and adventures".
On the other hand, this may be one of those things that they intend to fail to enforce with a nudge and a wink, like the whole "we're giving you five downloads per month, but our official policy is that you can't share a subscription with your group. We're not going to bother checking up on you, though."
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