Wizards of the Coast attempts to defend IP – gets castrated by angry mob
So once again the community is up in arms about a Cease and Desist letter issued to the creator and distributer of Masterplan by Wizards of the Coast.
Now, whenever a company decides to enforce their right to defend their own intellectual property against violations of terms of service or end user agreements, the gaming community immediately gets filled with anarchists and wanna-be lawyers who cry “foul”.
Now, let’s get something perfectly clear:
A Cease and Desist letter is not a bad thing. It is the legal version of a friendly note. Anyone can do it. I can, you can, your mom can. It isn’t legally binding anywhere.
A Cease and Desist letter is a letter demanding that the recipient refrain from a certain behavior or face legal action. That’s all it is. You can ignore it or you can comply with it. You can request a declaratory judgment, should you feel that the letter is unwarranted and wish to prove it. It is not a court ordered Cease and Desist, backed by a judge and having all the power thereof.
At the very least, Wizards of the Coast is attempting to defend their Intellectual Property rights. And in some of the grandest statements of stupidity I have ever witnessed, some people in the online community are actually attempting to say that IP rights are a myth.
A myth? Put down the Kool-Aid, folks.
An affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce spells it out:
IP protections expand the public domain by providing the incentive for artists and inventors to innovate, and then protecting their “creations of the mind” so that they benefit from their hard work and talents. This lifecycle of innovation improves our general welfare by creating jobs (such as publishers, retailers, and support staff), fostering economic growth, and offering products like computers, medicines, or movies that enhance our lives.
Every innovation and work of art expands the public domain. There also increases demand for these products—as well as competition between similar products (e.g. Mac vs. PC)—is what determines the price, not IP rights.
IP rights are in place to ensure inventors and artists receive fair recognition and compensation for their hard work and investment during the term of protection they enjoy. Patents, trademarks and copyrights do this by protecting inventors and artists from theft, whether it is someone selling a fake handbag on the street corner, or another person posting a movie or book online for others to view free of charge. Either way, enforcement of these rights—which some try to paint as “barriers to access” and “restrictions on speech”—ensure the real rights holders receive their just compensation, and are incentivized to keep expanding the public domain through newer works and inventions.
Strong IP rights actually enhance innovation and creativity by protecting the rights of inventors and artists, and guaranteeing them just compensation for a limited period of time. This, in turn, provides them both the means and incentive to create newer works, products and services, thus continuing to expand the depth and breadth of knowledge around the world.
Moreover, because the filing of patents requires the disclosure of information that would enable others to replicate the inventor’s discovery (and others be kept secret), others can use and build upon this shared knowledge to create newer and/or better products.
Innovation responds quickly to incentives and protections guaranteed in a modern system of IP rights. Indeed, multiple studies over a period of several years have demonstrated that countries with strong IP frameworks and protections typically experience the greatest innovation and creativity, as determined through patent and copyright filings. Developing countries with the best legal frameworks for IP rights also tend to see the greatest share of technology transfer, joint R&D work, and other forms of knowledge sharing and capacity building that helps advance their own development and economic growth.
Without strong IP rights, and the disclosure requirements on inventors they also impose, knowledge would be treated as “trade secrets” that would be unavailable to the public. Inventors and creators would also be reluctant to share their works broadly. All of this would undermine the time-proven lifecycle of innovation that has served the world well for generations, and slow the proliferation of knowledge globally.
The above is an undeniable fact. It is also the law. And hiding behind the free culture movement because you don’t understand isn’t a defense. Dreaming of some neo-marxist quixotic utopianism is not going to help creativity.
As for Masterplan – from all accounts the software was an exceptionally great tool for 4E players – and honestly, since Wizards can’t seem to come out with decent software after years of promising it, I can understand that a really dedicated fan took it upon himself to do something about it.
It is a shame, though, that he went about it the wrong way – even though he made no money from the product, the fact remains that the EULA was violated (even with the best of intentions).
Personally, there are a lot of recent gaffs on the part of Wizards of the Coast that I’d rather shake my head about:
- Removing all their PDFs from legitimate outlets
- Dropping the Star Wars license
- Discontinued its support of the D&D Miniatures Game
- … and don’t even get me started on 4th edition itself
But I am digressing here. Let’s stop condemning Wizards just because we don’t agree with what they did.
- Wizards of the Coast did what they felt was in the best interest for their company. There may be questions about the methods on both sides, but I don’t think the motives of either side should be in question. Ultimately, everyone is just trying to do what is best.
- This situation doesn’t change the quality of any of WotC’s games. I don’t think “punishing” them by threatening to boycott their products is a constructive use of time.
Obviously this is a source of frustration – particularly to the fans of Mastermind. The fact that we have so many interested and passionate members on the ‘net is the lion’s share of what makes this online community of ours great. But it can also lead to tempers running hot during situations such as this one.
