I'm in the planning stages of a novel involving mostly elves, which is essentially set in the D&D world. I'm wondering what my options are for copyright?
Can I have places like Waterdeep and Neverwinter in my novel? Should I rename intended locations?
Can the elves have the traits associated with them in Faerun, like the trance ability, and the lore surrounding them? Can I use the elven Pantheon?
Can I sell/showcase the novel to Wizards of the Coast? Will they come after me with an army of lawyers?
In theory I could put it in a different world, with different locations and lore, but... I don't really want to. Does anyone have experience of these matters?
First of all, nobody in these forums is a copyright lawyer (and any who might be are not your lawyer) any advice you get, including mine, is suspect.
Secondly, if you commercially publish a novel set in the FR, it's unlikely to go well for you. You'll probably do better than the person who commercially published their Lord of the Rings book and then sued the Tolkien Estate and Amazon over the Rings of Power series, but that's a low bar.
Thirdly, I have no clue if WotC do open submissions for D&D novels, but this is the sort of information you can find out with enough googling. If they do, find their guidelines and do what they say. You'll likely be rejected.
The world of non-commercial fiction (AKA fanfic) is wide and diverse, and is the most likely place for your work to find a home.
Finally, the FR are so amazingly generic that if you can write the novel, the necessary rewrites to disassociate it from D&D are unlikely to be that hard. They'll also probably make it a better book, because D&D has a bunch of weird baggage that doesn't work well in a narrative. (But I am still not a copyright lawyer.)
Edit: If it's your first novel, the odds of it being good enough to publish are not that high. Pretty much every author ever has a whole bunch of unpublishable words from their early days. Writing the book just for yourself is still worthwhile.
First off, nothing you’ll see on this thread is legal advice and you should consult with a lawyer or WotC support for more specific and accurate information.
Can I have places like Waterdeep and Neverwinter in my novel? Should I rename intended locations?
Not if you plan to sell it. Anything involving WotC IP must be created under their Fan Content Policy, which means it has to be free.
Can the elves have the traits associated with them in Faerun, like the trance ability, and the lore surrounding them? Can I use the elven Pantheon?
I would avoid all of that, especially the pantheon bit (established names like gods are 100% IP), unless you’re operating under the Fan Content Policy.
Can I showcase the novel to Wizards of the Coast? Will they come after me with an army of lawyers?
Not unless you’re selling it. But you can absolutely share with them, tag them online, and do whatever else you’d like.
In theory I could put it in a different world, with different locations and lore, but... I don't really want to.
I would recommend doing just that. Using your own world doesn’t just open you up to the possibility of going commercial, it also really helps breed creativity. Worldbuilding is easier than it looks, and there are plenty of folks here willing to help you. It’s all up to you, though.
Edit: If it's your first novel, the odds of it being good enough to publish are not that high. Pretty much every author ever has a whole bunch of unpublishable words from their early days. Writing the book just for yourself is still worthwhile.
Thanks both. As it happens this is my second novel, and I've already been published as a poet, so for sure I have serious hopes about it being published one day. That link to the Fan Content Policy is exactly what I was looking for. Thank you.
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I'm in the planning stages of a novel involving mostly elves, which is essentially set in the D&D world. I'm wondering what my options are for copyright?
In theory I could put it in a different world, with different locations and lore, but... I don't really want to. Does anyone have experience of these matters?
First of all, nobody in these forums is a copyright lawyer (and any who might be are not your lawyer) any advice you get, including mine, is suspect.
Secondly, if you commercially publish a novel set in the FR, it's unlikely to go well for you. You'll probably do better than the person who commercially published their Lord of the Rings book and then sued the Tolkien Estate and Amazon over the Rings of Power series, but that's a low bar.
Thirdly, I have no clue if WotC do open submissions for D&D novels, but this is the sort of information you can find out with enough googling. If they do, find their guidelines and do what they say. You'll likely be rejected.
The world of non-commercial fiction (AKA fanfic) is wide and diverse, and is the most likely place for your work to find a home.
Finally, the FR are so amazingly generic that if you can write the novel, the necessary rewrites to disassociate it from D&D are unlikely to be that hard. They'll also probably make it a better book, because D&D has a bunch of weird baggage that doesn't work well in a narrative. (But I am still not a copyright lawyer.)
Edit: If it's your first novel, the odds of it being good enough to publish are not that high. Pretty much every author ever has a whole bunch of unpublishable words from their early days. Writing the book just for yourself is still worthwhile.
First off, nothing you’ll see on this thread is legal advice and you should consult with a lawyer or WotC support for more specific and accurate information.
Not if you plan to sell it. Anything involving WotC IP must be created under their Fan Content Policy, which means it has to be free.
I would avoid all of that, especially the pantheon bit (established names like gods are 100% IP), unless you’re operating under the Fan Content Policy.
Not unless you’re selling it. But you can absolutely share with them, tag them online, and do whatever else you’d like.
I would recommend doing just that. Using your own world doesn’t just open you up to the possibility of going commercial, it also really helps breed creativity. Worldbuilding is easier than it looks, and there are plenty of folks here willing to help you. It’s all up to you, though.
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Thanks both. As it happens this is my second novel, and I've already been published as a poet, so for sure I have serious hopes about it being published one day.
That link to the Fan Content Policy is exactly what I was looking for. Thank you.