"Ryan S. Dancey" wrote:
>
> From: "lizard" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
> > On the subject of including conversion notes -- couldn't someone not
> > interested in the D20 STL or in writing D20-centric supplements simply
> > write conversion notes in his/her own words (not using OGLed text) and
> > publish them?
>
> Because there are publishers who would consider that an infringment on their
> copyrights and trademarks. That's exactly what Peter did when he wrote the
> Primal Order. TSR sent a 'cease and desist'. Palladium sued. For all I
> know, other publishers objected too.
>
Would such a suit actually stand, though? It's established that rules
cannot be copyrighted. Neither can formulae, etc. If the only use of a
trademark is "These rules tell you how to convert TrademarkedGame(tm,
used without permission) to OurGame", with the rest of the text using
non-trademarked terms (Strength, Laser Gun, Wizard) and original text,
on what grounds would the suit proceed? (Other than "we can outspend
you")
As an example, I have two unfinished universal systems:Omniverse and
Infinite Mirrors. Let's pretend that Infinite Mirrors is trademarked to
a different publisher. In Omniverse, I decide to include a conversion:
"To convert Omniverse(tm, used without permission) characters to
Infinite Mirrors:
The Body, Nerve,Mind, Soul, and Persona stat groups in Omniverse can be
converted to the respective stats in Infinite Mirrors by:
a)Averaging the three stats in each omniverse stat group.
b)Dividing the average in half.
Thus, an Omniverse character with a Muscle of 31, Stamina of 28, and
Health of 30 would have an IM Body stat of 15."
Assuming no one can copyright terms like 'Muscle' or 'Soul', what
trademarks or copyrights have I violated?
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