On Wed, 2 Aug 2000, Damian Smart wrote:
> But they DID sue. And that's the point. Even if it's pretty much
> guaranteed you'll win, can the average garage game developer afford a
> lawsuit at ALL?
http://www.hoboes.com/pub/Role-Playing/About%20Gaming/Role-Playing%20Defense/Gaming%20Law/TSR%20v%20Mayfair
It is a long complicated text and I don't pretend to really
understand half of it. Here is what I got:
Mayfair was using the AD & D trademark. TSR complained
to Mayfair. They entered into an Agreement in 1984 that
restricted some of Mayfair's usage. Still unhappy, TSR
sued Mayfair in 1991.
The main theme was TSR wanted Mayfair not to promote their
Role Aids products as suitable for AD & D _and other fantasy
role playing games_.
The court's decision:
> Moreover, this opinion has twice commented on the apparent
>overreaching by TSR in one part of the Agreement: prohibiting
>Mayfair's truthful advertising of the fact that Role Aids
>products may be utilized by members of the consuming public in
>conjunction with rival role-playing games as well as with AD & D.
>That restraint inhibits not only Mayfair's market among consumers
>who have purchased (or might intend to purchase) role-playing
>games from TSR's competitors but (not incidentally) also tends to
>lessen the demand for those competitive games among purchasers of
>Mayfair's Role Aids products. And again those anti-competitive
>measures appear to find no rational support in TSR's legitimate
>goals for protecting the integrity of its own trademarks. [FN24]
I also find it ironic to note that people who didn't enter
into an agreement with TSR curtailing their usage of trademarks
were not sued:
>Wargames West's 1991 Spring catalog states that Role Aids
>modules "can be used with any fantasy role-playing system,
>especially TSR's Dungeons & Dragons and AD & D systems"
If you are really worried about lawsuits, the new clause adds
more claims for the plaintiff and more incentive to initiate
legal action. Not less.
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