Have you checked to make sure that there are no similar restrictions regarding the use of Star Frontiers? The game may be defunct, but the copyright and trademarks are still held by WotC/Hasbro.
Actually, WotC/Hasbro does not hold the trademark. Because of the period of time that has passed since they last used that name in commerce, they had to abandon the mark. You can find record of this in the USPTO database (www.uspto.gov). All they had to do was sell a napkin with the name Star Frontiers on it, across state lines, to renew their trademark. They chose not do to this. They obviously don't see Star Frontiers as a source of revenue. However, you are right that they own the copyright on all the Star Frontiers material. This is why I did not copy their character record sheet and it is why I have not used any copyrighted material in Operative Online. Also, without giving up any of their legal rights, Wizards has a very friendly attitude toward their defunct product lines. They could demand I remove support from Operative Online. I don't think they will, but they could. I believe I could ignore such a demand on the basis they've abandoned the trademark and I've not violated copyright laws. And they could sue me over it. But we are one big, happy gaming family. If they ask me to remove it, I will respect their request. While I believe that everything I have done is legal, I don't want to make any (more?) enemies in this industry. Mark _______________________________________________ Ogf-l mailing list [email protected] http://mail.opengamingfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/ogf-l
