> Stiles, Christina L
>
> Do you guys think that getting a lawyer from the get-go is
> necessary? Should a new startup necessarily incorporte to protect his/her
> personal assets instead of going sole proprietorship? Basically,
> are these MUSTS?
If you are starting a business, then I would say that a Limited Liability
Company of some kind is extremely important. WotC is not the only player
you have to worry about - virtually anyone can claim you have infringed upon
their rights and then take you to court. An LLC protects your personal
property in case you make an honest mistake. It's pretty easy to do. In
most states it can be done with one trip to the Secretary of State's office.
If you are just publishing material on the web, then probably not, but don't
fall into the fallacy of thinking that just because you aren't making a
profit you are somehow less vulnerable. Companies have only two reasons to
litigate - to stop you from causing further harm and to recover damages for
harm already done. If you protect your personal assets with some type of
legal structure, they can only recover damages from the structure and not
from your personal estate.
As to the lawyer question, that's not so easy to decide. I think WotC will
be pretty forgiving in most situations that a small business can get into
(the stuff that Clark and Steve are doing is where a lawyer is absolutely
mandatory). You simply have to weigh the risk of loss against the cost of
the attorney and decide for yourself. A corporation limits your loss to
some degree, and soliciting comments from groups like this one may help
avoid embarrassing situations in the long run.
>
> Also, is there going to be someone relegated to looking over
> people's works
> beforehand--if asked--to make sure that no unintentional
> transgressions are
> made against the license? If not, someone should.
It would be nice, but it won't happen, because such a process implies a
tacit approval of the material. Anyone who does that may become liable for
the materials' content, which means the might be named in an infringement
suit.
-Brad
