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Post by lionrampant on Apr 23, 2008 7:40:52 GMT -5
So I was checking email this past Sunday evening, and I saw that I had an email from "that guy" at "that company". His email informed me that my random dungeon generator had been published in issue 28 of the Dungeoneer's Journal, and as such he was going to send me a free copy of that 'zine, and maybe some other stuff, too.
This was interesting to me because I had never submitted my generator to "that guy" for publication, and thus his email kind of caught me totally out of left field.
I'm not sure how to respond to this. On one hand, what he published was my old, 5th edition generator, rather than the 7th edition one I am focusing on with my own website. I will admit that it is easier to use the generator in the spiral-bound format in which it exists in the Journal. On ther other hand, I never submitted this thing for publication, and based on the legalese on the front page of the 'zine, he know claims copyright on it. I'm really not sure how to respond to this. More stuff in print for T&T isn't a bad thing, but that generator, in the form published, is heavily based on a generator I took from an old Gamescience product, and I'm still minorly uncomfortable with someone charging money for something that is still heavily the product of someone else.
What do you guys think?
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rlotze
2nd Level Troll
Posts: 79
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Post by rlotze on Apr 23, 2008 9:10:01 GMT -5
That was your generator in DD? I love it! It's one of my favorite parts of the entire zine. Good job on that!
As far as your response, I'd just tell "that guy" about your discomfort and displeasure is an open and honest manner.
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Post by lionrampant on Apr 23, 2008 9:49:46 GMT -5
Yeah, I'm still trying to form in my mind what my response would be. I'm leaning towards a "please ask me first in the future" kind of thing.
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lostheretic
2nd Level Troll
Unpublished Author, Published Poet
Posts: 74
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Post by lostheretic on Apr 23, 2008 12:17:01 GMT -5
That's really, really bad business practice. How did he find a copy of your material, anyway?
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Post by lionrampant on Apr 23, 2008 14:28:44 GMT -5
It's all on my webpage, available to anyone for free.
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Post by mahrundl on Apr 23, 2008 15:31:46 GMT -5
Lionrampant, I had a similar thing happen with my random treasure generator. That went into both 6th edition and 'Hobbit Hole' 11, without my approval. I didn't mind that much, and I had put it up here for anyone to use, but asking first would have been nice... What if I'd been planning to publish the thing myself?
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rlotze
2nd Level Troll
Posts: 79
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Post by rlotze on Apr 23, 2008 20:04:04 GMT -5
I liked the treasure generator too.
Maybe both of you should say something to "that guy"? It seems that he should know there's a bit of unease.
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Post by castiglione on Apr 23, 2008 20:28:23 GMT -5
You should really speak to "that guy" about this; this is really unacceptable especially if he's making $$$$ from it.
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lostheretic
2nd Level Troll
Unpublished Author, Published Poet
Posts: 74
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Post by lostheretic on Apr 23, 2008 22:06:26 GMT -5
Using free material and ostensibly charging money for it without permission... multiple times.
Time for an e-mail campaign?
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rlotze
2nd Level Troll
Posts: 79
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Post by rlotze on Apr 23, 2008 23:53:54 GMT -5
I don't think that an email campaign is the right thing to do. If "that guy" uses something that someone else created, and that person isn't happy, then I think that that person should be the one to address it.
As far as the money "that guy" makes, I doubt that he's using other people's creations to fill up his wallet. I think that any money being made is being put right back into making the T&T products great. Perhaps this is naive and wishful thinking, but I do believe it.
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Post by lionrampant on Apr 24, 2008 7:37:02 GMT -5
Yeah, I think rlotze is right that "that guy" really isn't making money from what he's doing; he just wants to get T&T material the broadest distribution he can and push a game he loves so that people are aware of it, and all the ways it can be used. I mentioned the situation on this forum because I wanted to gauge public opinion on whether I was just being cranky or not (hey, it happens!) before I went off half-cocked in a poorly thought out email. I have decided that I will email "that guy" and let him know of my general displeasure with the way this was handled, and ask him to request permission if he wants to use any of my web-published stuff in the future. I mean, let's be honest; it's not like there's lots of money at stake here, or anything like that. We're a small community, so we can all be friends and not ass hats, right?  |
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Post by zanshin on Apr 24, 2008 9:13:44 GMT -5
That seems like a fair response really. Using someone elses IP should be with their agreement. I support "that company" and their products but would hope that the necessary permissions were obtained and credits given.
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Fenris
5th Level Troll
Weapon Hand Severed!
Posts: 614
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Post by Fenris on Apr 24, 2008 10:07:06 GMT -5
And you might want to mention that you asked others at the Trollbridge before writing, and they generally agreed with your position. That might cause him to check out the board and read this thread, out of curiosity, and then he'll understand that it's not just you, but the contributers in general. But you can kiss your freebies goodbye.  |
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Post by lionrampant on Apr 24, 2008 10:58:35 GMT -5
No kidding!  Ah, well, I do better playing the "bad cop" than the "good cop," anyway.  |
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Post by lionrampant on May 1, 2008 18:00:26 GMT -5
In case anyone cares, I emailed "that guy" last weekend and requested that he ask permission before using anything from my website in the future. I never heard anything back, so that is probably the end of the matter.
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