Question of Books of S. copyright

[Brandi]

If you browse around eBay, you'll notice quite a few auctions where someone just hoovered up a lot of online clipart, netbooks, etc., burned a CD of the freely-available material, and starts selling it.

That just happens to be the most hilarious example as they probably just looked at the names of the Books of S and not the contents.

[RedundantZombie#33]

Hey! If you can't cast in the privacy of your bathtub, where can you?

Maybe there are some toilet spells also, hehehe.

Jokes apart, there are indeed a lot of bath-related spells. You see, the bath is a good symbology for cleasing and also for transformation. When you bath in something (special salty water, or whatever) you let it affect you entirely.

My mother used to be a sort of Candomblé acolyte - maybe that's why I don't like Souragne much. I was too young at the time to remember exactly everything, so I can't recall many names or exact procedures. But there is a very famous spell here in Brazil called Banho de Descarrego (Unload Bath, or something like that). You bath yourself with a specially scented and salted water to clean yourself from all kinds of minor curses.

BTW: No, my mother isn't dead. Now she is protestant.

[Wiccy of the Fraternity]

As a Witch, let me just say that most of the things published is nothing more than a bunch of rubbish that is pointless, useless, a waste of time and just filler to get yet another substandard book out for fluffy Wiccans (note, I am not a Wiccan, I'm a Witch).

As for anything of mine to be translated, feel free to translate as much of it as you want Vannax

[alhoon]

Who sells bathing spells? Hey! This spell on moisture baths is mine! You can't cast it unless you are an alhoon and you feel your skin drying up for lack of mucus!

I would hate to see what happened to "the Book of Sacrifices". . .

[Vannax]

Once again I want to send my BIG THANKS to everyone who expressed his blessings directly in this forum.

As it is a really hard (and maybe impossible) stint to address each single ex-contributor to Books of S., I decided to solve it this way. I send bellow mentioned letter to all e-mail addresses available in all Books of S..
I expect that not all of these addresses are still valid, that´s why I attach my letter to this forum topic as well.

(if would you receive my mail and had already replied my request, please, do not take it into your consideration)


Hello,
I started a new Ravenloft fan website for players nad dungeon masters in Czech Republic. As I´d like to offer as much high-quality stuff as possible on this website, I want to use the article that you wrote for Kargatane´s Books of S.
This way I´d like to address you, as an author, and ask for your permission to translate your BoS stuff to Czech Language and publish it on my web site.

In case you would not send me any negative reply (definitive NO or any reservation) within 60 days from date of sending this mail, I will take it as your approval and your stuff could be published.
Anyway, you can express your disapproval at any time after these 60 days as well. And if your text would have been already published, I´m ready to erase it immediatelly off from my website.

As regards publishing your stuff, of course, I will respect your authorship and your name will be added to the article.
As regards my translation - I will make all my effort to translate it in accordance with your original ideas and style.

I´m sorry for to inform you just this way, but I have no other possibility to contact you as Secrets of Kargatane finished its acitivty.

To check my website, please, follow this address http://lostsouls.wz.cz (of course it is written in my language).

Finally I believe you will understand my effort to attract new fans to the great Ravenloft RPG and I hope it doesn´t mind you, that I intend to do this missionary activity just with translation of your product.

Once again, thank you for your understanding.
Awaiting your reply (even if negative) I remain with kind regards
Vannax

[Mangrum]

In case you would not send me any negative reply (definitive NO or any reservation) within 60 days from date of sending this mail, I will take it as your approval and your stuff could be published.

This is not so much "standing on thin legal ice" as "smashing through thin ice with a jackhammer."

[Wiccy of the Fraternity]

Vannax, you need the express permission of an author, whether the material is official or not. The Book of S series clearly states that the material remains property of the author, so if you do not get a reply, you cannot translate and republish the material in any form.

As for the CD being sold off, it contained many useless things, not just the SotK Book of S, but also supposed treatises on astral projection that were designed for BESM and other things, lol.

[Vannax]

In case you would not send me any negative reply (definitive NO or any reservation) within 60 days from date of sending this mail, I will take it as your approval and your stuff could be published.

This is not so much "standing on thin legal ice" as "smashing through thin ice with a jackhammer."

By all means, you are right, but for example you - if you are John W. Mangrum - haven' t reply any of my attempts to address you. And this is your first reaction. I know it is not your (and anyone´s) obligation to reply it. However if this is the only way how to get a reply, then I´m glad it is effective (positively or negatively).

Futhermore I wrote this text as well: Anyway, you can express your disapproval at any time after these 60 days as well. And if your text would have been already published, I´m ready to erase it immediatelly off from my website.

Vannax, you need the express permission of an author, whether the material is official or not. The Book of S series clearly states that the material remains property of the author, so if you do not get a reply, you cannot translate and republish the material in any form.

I know it and I´m aware of it. I do not want either to threaten or lay down condition or to attack authors in any way. I just intend to address dozens of authors and at the same time not bother them with tons of e-mails.

Most probably I´m not able to express myself as pithily, courteously and precisely as in my native language. I´d like appologize to everyone who feel my Letter as a harm or an offence.

Finally I promise not to publish anything what I haven´t receive permission to from the author.

[Steve Miller]

Instead of issuing statements that you assume consent, you might consider something along the lines of what i do on my BESM pages. Even the ones where I DO have express permission (like the NeiA_7 and Armitage sections), I still say I don't, because the people who gave me permission might not be in a position to say "sure, post the stuff," because licensing rights are constantly coming and going. (Oh, you will note some pages DON'T say I that I'm using the material without permission... but that's because I have express license from the sole copyright owner of the property in question.)

Anyhow... look at the bottom of these pages. It makes it clear that I'm not trying to claim ownership of something that isn't mine.

http://www.geocities.com/nuelow/gsbesm.html

http://www.geocities.com/nuelow/besmfrankenstein.html

http://www.geocities.com/nuelow/besmentry.html

http://www.geocities.com/nuelow/armitageentry.html

http://www.geocities.com/nuelow/besmkaede.html

http://www.geocities.com/nuelow/besmlovebunny.html



I understand you want to get your project underway... but you really shouldn't assume permission. If they don't grant it, you can always move forward, but just be prepared to have your work wasted when you get that "please stop using our trademarked and copyrighted IPs on your site." You say as much in your email, but I like repeating these things over and over.

(BTW, I applaud your willingness to respect the creative properties of others. I would have been a much happier person in the mid-90s if such a mature and respectful attitude had been common among people on the 'net back then.)

[Vannax]

To Steve:
Thank you for the contribution above. It represents a great deal of help.

[alhoon]

(BTW, I applaud your willingness to respect the creative properties of others. I would have been a much happier person in the mid-90s if such a mature and respectful attitude had been common among people on the 'net back then.)

Indeed! A great Bravo for you. I honestly & totally believe that none of the authors will have any problem with their hard work taking more publishity if you name them.
Still you go through all this effort to be on the right side!

[Drinnik Shoehorn]

Instead of issuing statements that you assume consent, you might consider something along the lines of what i do on my BESM pages.

What is Big Eyes, Small Mouth? Is it literally an Anime RPG?

[Steve Miller]

Instead of issuing statements that you assume consent, you might consider something along the lines of what i do on my BESM pages.

What is Big Eyes, Small Mouth? Is it literally an Anime RPG?

Yup. It was doing very well 3-4 years ago, but somehow they lost market-footing. The publisher is Guardians of Order.

There's a generic rulebook (BESM) and then there several stand-alone games using the same system. The "Armitage III" and "NeiA_7" portions of my site were to have been in supplements/setting books for the generic game, but they were cancelled. All the other stuff at my site are just stuff I've done for the fun of it. (I'll be putting up some more characters soon.)

[Brandi]

Tiny nitpick: I thought the generic system based on BESM was called Tri-Stat dX?

[Drinnik Shoehorn]

Instead of issuing statements that you assume consent, you might consider something along the lines of what i do on my BESM pages.

What is Big Eyes, Small Mouth? Is it literally an Anime RPG?

Yup. It was doing very well 3-4 years ago, but somehow they lost market-footing. The publisher is Guardians of Order.

There's a generic rulebook (BESM) and then there several stand-alone games using the same system. The "Armitage III" and "NeiA_7" portions of my site were to have been in supplements/setting books for the generic game, but they were cancelled. All the other stuff at my site are just stuff I've done for the fun of it. (I'll be putting up some more characters soon.)

Thanks.

For some reason, I was mentally linking it with Feng Shui.