Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is LIVE! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
"TSR Games is Back"... how come they can use TSR's logos?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 8340679" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>A bit late to this party, and there have been a number of other threads where you might have found an answer to your question.</p><p></p><p>But my (tentative, not fully expert, but not completely amateur either) view is that (i) WotC still owns the copyright in those illustrations that constitute those non-word trademarks, and therefore (ii) the new TSR (3SR) is violating WotC's copyright in reproducing those illustrations in its own trademark applications and in reproducing them on its products.</p><p></p><p>This is different from the word trademark "TSR" which can't itself be the object of copyright, and which WotC has not registered. There are complexities here too, though, because in US law you don't need to register a trademark to enjoy property in respect of it (though registration can generate legal advantages) and WotC is still using the TSR trademark (both the word trademark and some of those illustrations) in its own trade (ie on some pdfs that it is selling). I'm not sure if WotC's continued use is enough to preclude 3SR from using the same TM, or to contest 3SR's registration of the TSR trademark. I'm pretty sure, though, that it's enough to mean that 3SR can't have any complaint about WotC's ongoing use.</p><p></p><p>(My understanding is that when TSR 2 - now rebadged as Solarian - registered the word trademark TSR, WotC was <em>not </em>selling those PDFs and hence was not using TSR as a distinguishing mark in the course of trade. 3SR thus finds itself in a different position from what that earlier company was in.)</p><p></p><p>The summary version is this: 3SR seem to be infringing copyrights owned by WotC, and perhaps infringing a non-registered trademark owned by WotC. Or in other words, their IP situations seems to be as bad as every other part of their situation.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 8340679, member: 42582"] A bit late to this party, and there have been a number of other threads where you might have found an answer to your question. But my (tentative, not fully expert, but not completely amateur either) view is that (i) WotC still owns the copyright in those illustrations that constitute those non-word trademarks, and therefore (ii) the new TSR (3SR) is violating WotC's copyright in reproducing those illustrations in its own trademark applications and in reproducing them on its products. This is different from the word trademark "TSR" which can't itself be the object of copyright, and which WotC has not registered. There are complexities here too, though, because in US law you don't need to register a trademark to enjoy property in respect of it (though registration can generate legal advantages) and WotC is still using the TSR trademark (both the word trademark and some of those illustrations) in its own trade (ie on some pdfs that it is selling). I'm not sure if WotC's continued use is enough to preclude 3SR from using the same TM, or to contest 3SR's registration of the TSR trademark. I'm pretty sure, though, that it's enough to mean that 3SR can't have any complaint about WotC's ongoing use. (My understanding is that when TSR 2 - now rebadged as Solarian - registered the word trademark TSR, WotC was [I]not [/I]selling those PDFs and hence was not using TSR as a distinguishing mark in the course of trade. 3SR thus finds itself in a different position from what that earlier company was in.) The summary version is this: 3SR seem to be infringing copyrights owned by WotC, and perhaps infringing a non-registered trademark owned by WotC. Or in other words, their IP situations seems to be as bad as every other part of their situation. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
"TSR Games is Back"... how come they can use TSR's logos?
Top