Actual Correspondence w/ TSR Legal

Well, Rob Repp suggested that if we had any complaints about the disclaimer that we contact legal directly. So this is a copy of the letter I sent to a contact in TSR legal that Rob Repp provided. This was sent via fax today. October 10, 1994 Constance Lindman Esq. Legal TSR, Inc. Dear Sirs: I am writing to you in regards to the published disclaimer TSR has released for use on free materials uploaded to MPG Net (MPGN). Please let me point out that while I am a user of the Internet as well as a player and owner of several TSR games, I am not in any way legally responsible for any facet of the Internet as it relates to Role Playing Games. I am also not a lawyer, although I believe I am fairly well informed as a layman in the area of intellectual property, and I have written several licensing agreements in the past that have been approved by legal counsel. The Internet is composed of thousands of systems (and millions of users) spread throughout nearly every country on the planet. The laws and regulations regarding these systems are terribly inconsistent, at both the local, state/regional, national, and international levels. This is further complicated by the fact that no person has any real authority on any machine beyond their own. These thousands of systems and millions of individuals agree to exchange information through standard protocols, which makes a huge variety of information available to those individuals. However, should someone distribute illegal material, for example, each individual (and perhaps site) involved is responsible, and the network as a whole is not liable for the copyright violation. In the case at hand, there is no single person able to represent the Internet and its interests to TSR, as each site and individual user may have other concerns regarding the disclaimer and related policies. In summary, that means that even if all of my suggestions regarding TSR's Internet policy are implemented, then other members of the Internet community may well have further objections. It also means that you can throw this correspondence in the trash can, and, as a single user of the Internet, there is not much that I can do, as I have no legal standing relating to the Internet or any of its parts. However, I think my suggestions are reasonable, and to some degree protect TSR better. The goal of these suggestions is to clear up some perceived ambiguities, and to fill in some areas that perhaps should be covered. (I would like to say that I disagree with the policy that is being implemented through this disclaimer, and I will be forwarding some objections as well as other legal issues regarding the Internet community shortly. However, I do not see a need to burden the discussion of changes to the disclaimer with those issues.) (From the upload by Rob Repp:) 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 MPG-Net 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 MPG-Net or TSR. First, I suggest that the first sentence be changed to "may incorporate and/or may be based on and/or derived from copyrighted material of TSR and/or may contain trademarks of TSR." As an author, I would not want to definitively state that a work is based on TSR copyrights until the work in question has been reviewed by a lawyer. In the case of a fancy dice rolling program, for example, TSR intellectual property may not be violated at all. Use of language that leaves open the issue will prevent borderline cases from having to be reviewed by legal counsel to determine if the disclaimer is needed. FASA has published a similar policy. Their policy has a statement: "Any use of FASA Corporation's copyrighted material or trademarks in this file should not be viewed as a challenge to those copyrights or trademarks." This type of statement may be a useful addition to your disclaimer. I'll discuss the second sentence in a future letter. However, for now, a work can not be distributed "under license" and not be "authorized", in some way. Especially since a TSR licensee will be determining the fitness of a work for distribution to some degree. This may be a point you wish to clarify. The third sentence has been misconstrued to read that the author is giving away rights to MPGNet and TSR to publish or distribute the material. (Rob Repp, speaking for the company, has said that the sentence gives away no rights to TSR or MPGNet to distribute the material.) To correct this misunderstanding, I'd suggest: "This item is for personal use only. This item may not be redistributed." Further, the author should include a statement allowing MPGNet and TSR to, free of charge, distribute the material. (Otherwise, MPGNet can not legally distribute the material, as the work is copyrighted by the author. MPGNet, acting as TSR's agent, would be liable for civil copyright violation charges if they put up any material without express permission to distribute it.) I suggest: Permission is granted to MPGNet and TSR to electronically distribute this item free of charge. Last, in the spirit of "future upgrades", I suggest that the wording be changed from "MPGNet" to "Licensed TSR Electronic Distributors" (or other phrase to include "mirror sites", other on-line services, etc.) This will prevent authors from having to change the disclaimer if TSR licenses other sites. (And, as they aren't the holder of the copyright on the material, TSR and MPGNet have no right to make changes to the document, especially regarding the conditions of distribution.) This leaves the following disclaimer: Copyright <year> by <author> This item may incorporate and/or may be based on and/or derived from copyrighted material of TSR and/or may contain trademarks of TSR. Any use of TSR's copyrighted material or trademarks in this file should not be viewed as a challenge to those copyrights or trademarks and are used without permission. The item is made available through licensed TSR electronic distribution sites, but is not authorized or endorsed by TSR. The item is for personal use only and may not be redistributed. Permission is granted to licensed TSR electronic distribution sites to electronically distribute this item free of charge. These changes (or similar ones) would cover the most serious objections that I have, and that I have heard expressed by others, about the disclaimer. Since this is strictly an informal communication, with no legal standing, I am faxing a copy to your office. If you would like a U.S. Mail copy for your records, I would be happy to send one. If you choose not to respond officially to this letter, please do fax, phone, or mail a response to that effect. Please indicate in any correspondence if I may post the response to the Internet. Sincerely, S. Keith Graham

Dear Mr. Graham: Thank you for your comments on TSR's Internet statement currently being used on MPGNet uploads. Your letter cogently presents the issues and concerns of our Internet enthusiasts. We are currently working on the policies and procedures to be implemented on TSR's own America Online forum. Your comments will certainly be taken into consideration in this regard. Once the final decisions have been made, we will implement these same procedures on TSR's GEnie forum, our licensed MPGNet site, and any future Internet sites. Thanks again for your comments, and you can look for revised procedures by the first of next year. Very truly yours, Constance R. Lindman Corporate Counsel