Some insight on V:tes, Hasbro, and Print On Demand

I don't think this has been mentioned at all on the forums, but I've recently had a glimpse behind the curtain as to how Print On Demand interacts with copyright law.

I have a friend who publishes some of his games through DriveThruRPG.com, and has a card game that you can make custom cards, or order cards a la carte. My understanding is that because each a la carte or custom sale is its own thing, it needs approval from the copyright owner.

Compare this to cranking out a single set print run of cards in random boosters. it only requires one sign-off because in the legal world a single print run of a million million billion anson-illion cards is only one thing, wheras a hundred "custom" sets of one card is a hundred things. So, each order of cards in a POD setting would probably have required a WotC sign-off, ON TOP OF artist Royalties. Yeah, I don't see them basically employing someone specifically to approve V:tes orders from a third party retailer either.

Not to mention sets available exclusively to brick and mortar stores. It's a sad fact that the way the game is structured (cam/sabbat/independent/bloodlines/Laibon) affects how it can be effectively distributed. I have further opinions on this particular subject, but I'm straying afield from my intended course.

TL;DR: Print on Demand had a bunch of legal bullshit that would make most sensible people balk, let alone a giant corporation that only gives fucks about the bottom line.

Just want to mention that VtES is a rare game suitable for CCG model - with no card limits and wide range of playable cards it's possible to structure sets so "useless pile" will be small.

You have to work with rarities, obviously, as well as limit card pool in a set, not trying to put all disciplines in one "basic set".

For example print something like "brujah set" with brujah vampires and corresponding non discipline and POT, PRE, CEL discipline cards with "correct" rarities - IG, Torn Signpost, Psyche and other core as commons, and useless (borderline) crap like undead strength, bank nakh, enrage ets as a rares.

And other sets for other clans.

So newbies can buy several boosters, pile them together and got a playable deck (meaning all their vampires and library can be played together) and then have a clear way to develop their collection, when they'll understand which cards they need more and which are not so good for their playstyle.

And complicated world of combining clans, using mechanics like anarch and black hand ets can be moved to specialized "expert level" expansions.

PS: Grouping rule will be the problem, thou. Have to continue my project...

self wrote:

My understanding is that because each a la carte or custom sale is its own thing, it needs approval from the copyright owner.

Compare this to cranking out a single set print run of cards in random boosters. it only requires one sign-off because in the legal world a single print run of a million million billion anson-illion cards is only one thing, wheras a hundred "custom" sets of one card is a hundred things. So, each order of cards in a POD setting would probably have required a WotC sign-off, ON TOP OF artist Royalties. Yeah, I don't see them basically employing someone specifically to approve V:tes orders from a third party retailer either.

This is, essentially, nonsense of the highest order. Nothing about PoD-style printing necessitates anything of this nature, or anything close to it.

What would happen in the real world is that a contractual licence would be put in place giving the right to print certain cards under certain conditions for a certain price. Hypothetically, a PoD printer might be given the rights to print a particular expansion for several years, or until so many thousand cards have been printed, or until royalties received hit a certain level, or a variety of other limits. The cost to the PoD producer might be a flat fee, or ongoing royalties, or ongoing royalties with a minimum periodic royalty, or some combination of that sort of thing. The intellectual property holder(s) and the printer would have obligations to each other, like certain quality standards in printing, providing the printer with access to original art, the IP holders being able to audit the printer in case they suspect they're not getting royalties they're owed, perhaps obligations around marketing arrangements etc.

At literally no point would any real world contract put together by anyone with any expertise in this area whatsoever require someone at Hasbro to approve me buying three copies of Eyes of the Dead.