Player packs, copyright, and borrowing

[VonPickles]

So after spending a week or so here (and understanding the need to be legal)
what is the opinion and the accepted norm in developing a PDF players pack?
im interested in CT so all the material is long OOP, is it okay to include a character sheet? even if it is copyrighted (this is for personal use and distribution to my players)? of course if i find some home made stuff here a quick PM to the author is fine, but things like cannon equipment or vessels if i convert a picture and stat line will that be frowned upon.
basically im asking what am i allowed to borrow, copy, distribute (to my players)?
and if i posted my player pack would umbridge be taken?

cheers

 

[shield]

I think that GDW / FFE allowed you to copy stuff like maps, deckplans etc. for personnal use i.e in your game. Its just you can't offer it for sale or distribution.

I am sure one of the moderators on the board will confirm

 

[aramis]

You can freely share character sheets you have designed for any of FFE's games; SJG likewise allows same. You do need to, on sheet, acknowledge the relevant trademarks. See the FFE fair use police at farfuture.net, and the SJG one at SJgames.com.

MGT, you can release the sheet as an OGL/TLL product commercially, and can include any information in the SRD that may be relevant.

 

[VonPickles]

yes well distribution is the key me thinks! if i distribute something as part as a campaign pack and charge nothing for it, and note the owner i think i should be right! that being said i did see a character sheet pulled in the file section.

 

[VonPickles]

You can freely share character sheets you have designed for any of FFE's games; SJG likewise allows same. You do need to, on sheet, acknowledge the relevant trademarks. See the FFE fair use police at farfuture.net, and the SJG one at SJgames.com.

MGT, you can release the sheet as an OGL/TLL product commercially, and can include any information in the SRD that may be relevant.

so just so i get it right, i have to make my own (with TM notation), but cant use digital copy of OOP commercial product?
But i can copy and print at home till my hearts content for use in my game?
where does the "copy for personal use" at the bottom of the sheet sit with this if im posting "My campaign material inc a character sheet" how does that over step "personal use"
sorry im just trying to be legal in these litageous times we live in and given that this material was OOP before we had the net!

 

[dean]

You can freely share character sheets you have designed for any of FFE's games; SJG likewise allows same. You do need to, on sheet, acknowledge the relevant trademarks. See the FFE fair use police at farfuture.net, and the SJG one at SJgames.com.

MGT, you can release the sheet as an OGL/TLL product commercially, and can include any information in the SRD that may be relevant.

so just so i get it right, i have to make my own (with TM notation), but cant use digital copy of OOP commercial product?
But i can copy and print at home till my hearts content for use in my game?
where does the "copy for personal use" at the bottom of the sheet sit with this if im posting "My campaign material inc a character sheet" how does that over step "personal use"
sorry im just trying to be legal in these litageous times we live in and given that this material was OOP before we had the net!

Note that all of the GDW CT stuff is not (and has not been) out of print. FFE sells it on Marc Millers website as both "Big Floppy Books" and as various versions of PDF files on CD ROMS. In addition, anything OOP (in recent history, say covering since Traveller was first published), is still in general covered by copyright so distribution of any of that stuff is likely considered Verboten. Aramis is our Resident Expert on copyright, and he will likely chime in and give you the straight line.

To be safe: If YOU didn't create it, don't distribute it. If you did create it, be sure to attribute credit where it is due and always be prepared to receive and act on a takedown notice if you do.

 

[aramis]

You can freely share character sheets you have designed for any of FFE's games; SJG likewise allows same. You do need to, on sheet, acknowledge the relevant trademarks. See the FFE fair use police at farfuture.net, and the SJG one at SJgames.com.

MGT, you can release the sheet as an OGL/TLL product commercially, and can include any information in the SRD that may be relevant.

so just so i get it right, i have to make my own (with TM notation), but cant use digital copy of OOP commercial product?
But i can copy and print at home till my hearts content for use in my game?
where does the "copy for personal use" at the bottom of the sheet sit with this if im posting "My campaign material inc a character sheet" how does that over step "personal use"
sorry im just trying to be legal in these litageous times we live in and given that this material was OOP before we had the net!

1) I AM NOT A LAWYER.
2) I SURE AS HELL AM NOT YOUR LAWYER

I am, however, moderately well versed (for a layman) in the issue of Copyrights and Trademarks.

Marc's Fair Use guideline is "Make your own, share it for free". Don't include anything directly from the books. (The take-down of the character sheet, if it's the one I'm thinking of, was because it was a direct scan with the trademarks unacknowledged.)

Yes, you can copy/print the sheets in the book for your own use at home, but don't go giving away a scan.

If Marc's released a free PDF, have them download the free PDF.

If it says "Traveller" on it, it needs the disclaimer about not challenging Marc's trademarks.

Short statblocks (like this: Edmund Arsenault, Marine Major, 3 terms, ECF49A Rifle 3, Medic 1, ATV1) are fine... again, acknowledge Marc's trademark and don't make money.

There are three "not available new" editions: 1st ed CT, T20, and Traveller for Hero. Since 1E CT is not significantly different enough from 2E, it's essentially covered by the CT disk. T20 will be going to CD eventually. HT, well, that's a different issue, as the Hero System license expired... Still, for those, the same basic guidelines apply. Acknowledge Marc's trademarks, and QLI's or Hero Games', and don't copy stuff out of the rulebooks.

 

[VonPickles]

Cheers, thanks for that! i will leave out a character sheet, and any other references i include will be notated and TM's acknowledged

 

[Andrew Boulton]

Cheers, thanks for that! i will leave out a character sheet, and any other references i include will be notated and TM's acknowledged

Character sheets and occasional short extracts or tables are fine, as long as it's only for the use of your group.

 

[Dragoner]

Since 1E CT is not significantly different enough from 2E, it's essentially covered by the CT disk.

CT disk has the first three 1977 LLB's plus HG 1st ed, are there other 1st ed books?

 

[Dragoner]

So after spending a week or so here (and understanding the need to be legal)
what is the opinion and the accepted norm in developing a PDF players pack?
im interested in CT so all the material is long OOP, is it okay to include a character sheet? even if it is copyrighted (this is for personal use and distribution to my players)? of course if i find some home made stuff here a quick PM to the author is fine, but things like cannon equipment or vessels if i convert a picture and stat line will that be frowned upon.
basically im asking what am i allowed to borrow, copy, distribute (to my players)?
and if i posted my player pack would umbridge be taken?

cheers

Look at the FFEFairUsePolicy pdf on your CT disk if you have it, otherwise, I would think maybe it would be on the FFE website, I think the meat of what you are asking is on it:

"4a Can I make a PDF of Traveller Stuff? Can I make
scans of Traveller pages?
Yes. Subject to Fair Use, you can make scans or PDFs of
pages from books you own. If you are making scans or PDFs
for some project you are doing, there should be no problem.
If you are PDFing a whole book (or more than a few
pages), you've gone too far."

 

[Old_Dr_Skull]

Also, the "Forms and Charts" supplement gives permission for photcopying the forms and charts included for personal use, if I recall correctly. So, if you wanted a character sheet for your players, you certainly could use that one.

 

[aramis]

CT disk has the first three 1977 LLB's plus HG 1st ed, are there other 1st ed books?

Mine doesn't...

But yes, there are other differences amongst 1st edition printings...

There used to be a longish thread, but it died in a board upgrade I believe, where we (myself and several others) went through and notated all the differences in various CT core rulebooks.

Once the 1981 edition of Bk2 was out, it seems to have been stable across several printings (into about 1983, I think); but both Starter and TTB had additional material missing in that book. Every pre-1981 printing, however, seems to have had at least one change... That thread goes back some time - 1999 or so..

 

[Dragoner]

Mine doesn't...

But yes, there are other differences amongst 1st edition printings...

There used to be a longish thread, but it died in a board upgrade I believe, where we (myself and several others) went through and notated all the differences in various CT core rulebooks.

Once the 1981 edition of Bk2 was out, it seems to have been stable across several printings (into about 1983, I think); but both Starter and TTB had additional material missing in that book. Every pre-1981 printing, however, seems to have had at least one change... That thread goes back some time - 1999 or so..

Interesting, maybe that thread was the foundation of the "missing rules" pdf.

 

[Icosahedron]

As Aramis said, I'm no lawyer, and I don't know a lot about copyright apart from figuring that half of it is s**t, but AFAIK most of the character sheets and forms in CT were free to copy for personal (group) use.

IMO (and I have no idea how correct that is) there is a difference between sending a digital copy of something to your players (or hosting it in a private chat room specifically for a game) and distributing to the general public (or hosting on a publicly accessible website). The first is simply a modern extension of a face to face game, and the waiver to photocopy for your players ought to extend to the cyberspace equivalent, whereas the second is clearly public distribution of material that doesn't belong to you.
However, copyright law is a particularly stubborn ass that seldom does what it ought.

The CT material is not out of print, and is available at very reasonable prices, so you should not provide your players with material that they ought to buy (ie the rules and background material). I'm not sure that deckplans had photocopy permission, some supplements were essentially deckplans with write-ups, and clearly they were meant to be bought, not given away. You'd need to check for a permission waiver on the deckplan in question.

CT doesn't fall into the 'out of print but in copyright' hellhole that puts fans at the mercy of the secondhand shysters. Marc has ensured that all of his Traveller material is continuously available to his readers, and his diligence deserves our respect.

 

[CosmicGamer]

IMO, certain material like blank character sheets, deck plans and other maps and material from an adventure are provided specifically for the purpose of the GM to copy and use during a game.

 

[Hyphen]

Try here:
http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Discuss/showthread.php?t=24965

Or here:
http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Discuss/showthread.php?t=24962