I just posted a video on an Excel spreadsheet project that has a lot of visualizations and customizations that Kobold Fight Club & DonJon doesn't have. I'm thinking about sharing it publicly and asking for donations, but I would like to hear what the public thinks or suggests before I release it. Please, let me know what you think!
Thanks! I've been working very hard on it. I was hoping to get some donations because I've spent many hours on it. But there's still a lot I want to add. So before I do I wanted input from the D&D community.
I have removed the link to the video in question and would like to remind everyone that posting links on these forums to illegal content will not be tolerated.
In this case, the video is advertising a spreadsheet, which clearly shows that it contains data taken from several Wizards of the Coast publications, such as the Monster Manual, Volo's Guide to Monsters, and others.
Whilst I have directly contacted the user who posted this, I would also like to explain publicly just why we have to take such a hard stance on this at D&D Beyond, rather than just delete this thread.
Wizards of the Coast have made the Basic Rules & SRD content free to use. Information from any other book is WotC property and producing tools that contain that information is hurtful to WotC and to the hobby as a whole. Regardless of any personal views people may have on whether copyright theft from a successful company is reasonable, the law prohibits such actions. As D&D Beyond license the D&D products from WotC, we are required to take all reasonable steps to prevent such illegal activity on these forums.
It's clear to me that the intent of this spreadsheet tool is to create something cool and useful, which is great, but the correct way to go about doing that is to contact Wizards of the Coast about licensing their content and discuss a licensing agreement.
I know that this can be a hot topic for debate, so I also ask that anyone commenting on this thread does so objectively and reasonably - if this gets out of hand, the thread will be locked.
Umm, I don't believe that this contained anything that violated WotC's copyright. Including the Xanathar's table to track items is the only thing that might skirt a legal boundary. It's important to note the difference between content and names of content. For instance, in Donjon, everything is listed but only the SRD item information is actually available to view. This guy's spreadsheet links back to this site for the actual content.
Of course, I'm not a copyright lawyer and the OP should definitely contact one before doing any sort of donation or patreon or kickstarter, but I think you've jumped the gun on this one and banned/warned without due cause.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation."
While rights holders keep trying to destroy fair use, an encounter generator that does not include the stat blocks or descriptions is almost certain to to fall under the fair use guidelines as a trans-formative work.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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I just posted a video on an Excel spreadsheet project that has a lot of visualizations and customizations that Kobold Fight Club & DonJon doesn't have. I'm thinking about sharing it publicly and asking for donations, but I would like to hear what the public thinks or suggests before I release it. Please, let me know what you think!
Thanks! I've been working very hard on it. I was hoping to get some donations because I've spent many hours on it. But there's still a lot I want to add. So before I do I wanted input from the D&D community.
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D&D Beyond FoundersI have removed the link to the video in question and would like to remind everyone that posting links on these forums to illegal content will not be tolerated.
Section 2e of the Forum Rules & Guidelines.
In this case, the video is advertising a spreadsheet, which clearly shows that it contains data taken from several Wizards of the Coast publications, such as the Monster Manual, Volo's Guide to Monsters, and others.
Whilst I have directly contacted the user who posted this, I would also like to explain publicly just why we have to take such a hard stance on this at D&D Beyond, rather than just delete this thread.
Wizards of the Coast have made the Basic Rules & SRD content free to use. Information from any other book is WotC property and producing tools that contain that information is hurtful to WotC and to the hobby as a whole. Regardless of any personal views people may have on whether copyright theft from a successful company is reasonable, the law prohibits such actions. As D&D Beyond license the D&D products from WotC, we are required to take all reasonable steps to prevent such illegal activity on these forums.
It's clear to me that the intent of this spreadsheet tool is to create something cool and useful, which is great, but the correct way to go about doing that is to contact Wizards of the Coast about licensing their content and discuss a licensing agreement.
I know that this can be a hot topic for debate, so I also ask that anyone commenting on this thread does so objectively and reasonably - if this gets out of hand, the thread will be locked.
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Umm, I don't believe that this contained anything that violated WotC's copyright. Including the Xanathar's table to track items is the only thing that might skirt a legal boundary. It's important to note the difference between content and names of content. For instance, in Donjon, everything is listed but only the SRD item information is actually available to view. This guy's spreadsheet links back to this site for the actual content.
Of course, I'm not a copyright lawyer and the OP should definitely contact one before doing any sort of donation or patreon or kickstarter, but I think you've jumped the gun on this one and banned/warned without due cause.
"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation."
― Oscar Wilde.
While rights holders keep trying to destroy fair use, an encounter generator that does not include the stat blocks or descriptions is almost certain to to fall under the fair use guidelines as a trans-formative work.