Deckmaster and Hasbro question

jamesatzephyr wrote:

I would pay good money for an official copy of Ossian with Josh Feuerstein's artwork

Heh, I was actually thinking just the same yesterday!

So the patent is not void by PoD and the fact that it ends in about 9 month does not make the deckmaster system free?

Timo wrote:

So the patent is not void by PoD

PoD won't void a patent. It might present a non-infringing method of going about things, it might not.

Timo wrote:

and the fact that it ends in about 9 month does not make the deckmaster system free?

The patent expiring would allow you to do things that previously required a licence for the patent. However, it wouldn't necessarily do things like:

- let you use the Deckmaster name (trademarks are not patents)
- use any copyrighted works that Hasbro may still have copyright over (which might include card texts or some parts of the rules)
- create derivate works thereof (which can mean you can't circumvent any issues by just rewriting the relevant text)
- reprint any art where the rights are owned by Hasbro or the original artist

And all the same issues with CCP, who may or may not be more amenable to negotiations. For example, clan icons, the Vampire: The Eternal Struggle trademark.

Timo wrote:

So the patent is not void by PoD and the fact that it ends in about 9 month does not make the deckmaster system free?

I think the issue is that they made the game, leasing the ip from ww for the source material. Then they sild rights tothe game to ww, with a plan in place to be allowed to use the game for X amount of time. After X amount of time, ww, then owned by ccp, was to renegotiate. They were unsucessful.

Independant of that, the patten of tap mechanics, on the deckmaster patten, will lapse next year.

As far as i see it, something called jyhad or even probably vtes is still based on ccp's property but a game made by richard garfeild, at that time for wotc.

Two things will make this relevant for a game using those rules: a big favor being asked by garfield, or hasbro smiling and saying pod can happen if we remove thier trademarks from our cards, and maybe change the name.

Of course wotc hasnt made this game since the mid 90s, so thier "brand" attachment should be nil to minimal. So, maybe we erase deckmaster after the patent is gone, and they give us a thumbs up with no contract nonsense or resources being allogated to us.

Ccp is entitled to a cut for the ip they own, but the devil is hasbro owned the game, not just tapping.

Also, ccp owns all clan and sect logos. Hasvro owns the "tap" logo we dont use anyway.

Who owns the pool skull, trisnakes, blood drop, and discipline symbols predating bloodlines? All after that are ccp, i think.

Correct.

And thus, Johannes saying not to expect anything until mid 2014. We dont know, and we can always ask nicely later.

Im not a fan of ccp, but i also dont dislike them, so im completey nuetral when i say they will probably be happy to see us in print, and they are smaller than hasbro so small royalties are good for them, whereas hasbro are the folks to impress.

So, as of the patent lapse, we can all design card games where you turn a card sideways, but because our game is owned by seperate enteties, its not a certain thing who gets to decide if we are allowed to use the same rules.

So, another "game" would be able to, and if they are useable for vtes at the descretion of vekn, cool. But we need a hail mary to reprint some cards, do advanced stuff, reuse art, or have vtes trisnake backs. Hail mary here being someone in wotc pulling for us or Garfield wanting to help.