[PnP] Is everyone sitting down?

[Larry]

Hey gang,


     I did a little snooping today. I decided to look up and verify
     Avalon Hill's (and by extension, WotC's) trademarks and
     copyrights regarding P&P, and a few other games. The Universe
     (SPI) crowd will be thrilled. Turns out that SPI never got around
     to actually filing the copyright. This, in addition to the fiasco
     with Tower Raven grabbing the lapsed trademark, and, honestly,
     I'm on the floor laughing. WotC won't be getting their five grand
     for that one any time soon. LOL

     Ok, on the down side, Avalon Hill *was* smart enough to get the
     copyrights filed for P&P, so they do own the material. However,
     guess what *isn't* on file? The titles "Powers & Perils" and
     "Perilous Lands" were never trademarked. :) I'm no expert on
     copyright and trademark law, but from what I've seen happen with
     other companies, and based on my limited knowledge in this area,
     I'm fairly certain that Richard could do the following, if he
     chose to:

     -Write a new RPG.

     -"Officially" base it on existing game mechanics, which would be
     expanded upon and updated, from Adventures in Fantasy.

     -Trademark the title Powers & Perils.

     -Apply it to the new game.

     -Say, "Neener, neener, neener."

     
     It's tricky, but legal, and WotC can't really do anything about
     it. Tower Raven trademarked Universe, and WotC was furious for
     all of five minutes, and then let it drop. Their legal department
     was unable to get around it, because of their own mistakes (same
     as they've made with P&P).
  
     Heck, you could trademark Perilous Lands, too, but you'd have to
     apply it to entirely new material.

     Personally, I wouldn't bother, since there are always new names
     to be had, and new material to be created, but it is an
     incredibly funny exercise in finding the chinks in the behemoth's
     armor. Most older gamers like myself tend to look at WotC as the
     Microsoft of the pen, paper & dice game world, so it's fun to
     realize that they make mistakes and you could screw them, even if
     it is only in a small way. (No, I'm not petty, --just bored.) LOL
     
 
Best regards,

   Larry                       mailto:Kurgan at Fastmail.fm