The Big Fear About the "Disclaimer":
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From: [a--om--e] at [jyusenkyou.cs.jhu.edu] (Ken Arromdee)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
Subject: Re: Suggested changes to disclaimer
Date: 7 Sep 1994 14:45:00 -0400
Organization: Johns Hopkins University CS Dept.

I think the real danger is not that TSR is going to publish your submission
against your will, but that TSR is going to accept your submission, then refuse
to publish it (possibly shutting down the official TSR sites), and because of
the above "disclaimer", you won't be able to send it anywhere else.

TSR already claims you cannot distribute anywhere else, but TSR's claims to
that effect are on shaky legal ground: i.e., you cannot distribute stuff
because it contains references to "hit points" or "inches". However, if you
release your material with the above disclaimer, TSR has a _legal_ way to keep
you from putting it anywhere else, because you just _said_ that it may not be
published anywhere that TSR doesn't like.


From: [s--ri--s] at [yoyo.cc.monash.edu.au] (Rodney Payne)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
Subject: A WARNING TO WRITERS (was Re: .sig free Announcement)
Date: 16 Sep 1994 20:55:15 GMT
Organization: Monash University

[m--bi--s] at [Mercury.mcs.com] (Rob Repp) writes:
>___________________________________________________________________________
>This item incorporates or is based on or derived from copyrighted material
>of TSR, Inc. and may contain trademarks of TSR. The item is made available
>by MPGNet under license from TSR, but is not authorized or endorsed by
>TSR. The item is for personal use only and may not be published or
>distributed except through MPGNet or TSR.
>___________________________________________________________________________

It is my belief that this disclaimer may, in effect, create a contract between
the writer and TSR, which releases all copyright from the author to TSR. That
is, as the writer of a derivative work, you will surrender all copyright to
TSR. (Normally, TSR would have no copyright to material written by you, which
is derivative of TSR works, because you maintain the copyright to your original
elements. INCLUDING THIS DISCLAIMER may mean that you LOSE THAT COPYRIGHT.)

Thus, this being the case, TSR may publish your material, in part or in full,
for profit, and you will have NO LEGAL RECOURSE. That is, you will receive no
payment for your work should TSR decide to publish it.

I make no claim as to intention on TSR's part, but it may still, independently,
be the case, and could affect YOU at a later date.


From: [s--ri--s] at [yoyo.cc.monash.edu.au] (Rodney Payne)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
Subject: Re: A WARNING TO WRITERS (was Re: .sig free Announcement)
Date: 23 Sep 1994 23:32:17 GMT
Organization: Monash University

  OK. Australian common law (and presumably its American equivalent) has
held that for a contract to be upheld both parties must be compensated for
what they offer into that contract. There are a few exceptions to this
rule (contracts `under seal', I think), but this is not one of them.
Anyway, compensation must be `sufficient', but not necessarily `adequate'.

  Sufficient means that it must have some recogniseable, quantifiable
character. In other words, `my undying love' is not sufficient, because it
is ambiguous. 

  Adequate means such that it is of equal value to the other thing. A copy
of the Complete Fighters Handbook is adequate compensation for the
Complete Thieves Handbook.

  Therefore, I could buy a bridge from someone for one dollar, and it would
be considered enough. That is, sufficient, but not adequate.

  Therefore, if the allowance to upload material to ftp.mgpn.com (is that
right?) is considered to be sufficient, that is, quantifiable, then there
may exist a contract, which, in exchange, gives TSR the right to publish
that material. That is, TSR gives the author permission to upload, and the
author transfers the right to publish. The right to publish, in this case,
is not restricted, and is in effect the copyright, or a liscence to permit
TSR to use that copyright.

  Now, there are a number of things that might prevent this:

* US law may have a minimum standard of adequacy

* The right to upload may not be sufficient

* There may be issues of misrepresentation or mistake to consider

* Contracts may not be possible over the Internet

  Another interesting thing about contracts is that they may also include
that one party *will not* do something, as well as do something.
Therefore, it is possible to form a contract that says you will not
publish that material separately. If the disclaimer gives TSR copyright,
then it probably does this as well.