Bought Witchlight to run with some friends who now want to do it online in foundry VTT. Is there any way to transfer the printed license to Beyond for easy upload of the maps, or do you have to buy it again?
Nope. And it ain't gonna happen. D&D Beyond content is not just a PDF of the book's pages scanned into digital image format. D&D Beyond is an interactive service. The content has to be programmed into the system so it works with it (this requires paid human programmers) and the service itself has to be hosted on servers that also cost money to maintain. D&D Beyond is not a cheap and simple extra selling point, it is a separate product and is marketed as such.
Bought Witchlight to run with some friends who now want to do it online in foundry VTT. Is there any way to transfer the printed license to Beyond for easy upload of the maps, or do you have to buy it again?
You didn't buy a "printed license." You bought a book. There is no license involved.
If you really just want the maps and a digital copy of the book, if you go to the purchase page and scroll all the way down, you can get "Compendium Content Only" for $20. You won't have all of the monsters in the searchable listings and the player content for the character builder, however. Also, some cartographers sell hi-res copies of their WotC maps on personal web sites. Not sure if they are available for this adventure, but that's worth looking into as well.
Also, on DMs Guild many people often publish VTT-ready maps for the adventures. They are not the original maps but recreated ones often as well as additional ones for encounters that were map-less in the book. If you go to DMsGuild and search for "witchlight maps" there are several options. A VTT-ready map can be handy even if the quality isn't as nice the official WotC ones since things like properly sizing and aligning grids is typically already done for you with these.
But, bottom line is you bought a book not a license, and if you want more than a book then, yes, you will need to pay more.
Bought Witchlight to run with some friends who now want to do it online in foundry VTT. Is there any way to transfer the printed license to Beyond for easy upload of the maps, or do you have to buy it again?
Not at the moment. There is no way to do that.
Nope. I direct you to several threads in my signature about it.
Buyers Guide for D&D Beyond - Hardcover Books, D&D Beyond and You - How/What is Toggled Content?
Everything you need to know about Homebrew - Homebrew FAQ - Digital Book on D&D Beyond Vs Physical Books
Can't find the content you are supposed to have access to? Read this FAQ.
"Play the game however you want to play the game. After all, your fun doesn't threaten my fun."
Nope. And it ain't gonna happen. D&D Beyond content is not just a PDF of the book's pages scanned into digital image format. D&D Beyond is an interactive service. The content has to be programmed into the system so it works with it (this requires paid human programmers) and the service itself has to be hosted on servers that also cost money to maintain. D&D Beyond is not a cheap and simple extra selling point, it is a separate product and is marketed as such.
You didn't buy a "printed license." You bought a book. There is no license involved.
If you really just want the maps and a digital copy of the book, if you go to the purchase page and scroll all the way down, you can get "Compendium Content Only" for $20. You won't have all of the monsters in the searchable listings and the player content for the character builder, however. Also, some cartographers sell hi-res copies of their WotC maps on personal web sites. Not sure if they are available for this adventure, but that's worth looking into as well.
Also, on DMs Guild many people often publish VTT-ready maps for the adventures. They are not the original maps but recreated ones often as well as additional ones for encounters that were map-less in the book. If you go to DMsGuild and search for "witchlight maps" there are several options. A VTT-ready map can be handy even if the quality isn't as nice the official WotC ones since things like properly sizing and aligning grids is typically already done for you with these.
But, bottom line is you bought a book not a license, and if you want more than a book then, yes, you will need to pay more.
Thank you for your kind and non-condescending reply.