We know you guys and gals don’t mean any harm by this. In fact, you’re doing conversions because you like Palladium and its games, and you want to help other gamers have a better gaming experience. We understand and appreciate that, we just can not allow it.
Yes, that sucks, but it’s the way it has to be.
Over the years, I’ve used my share of literary characters in my own gaming sessions. Doctor Who, Doctor Doom, Darth Vader, Freddy Krueger, and the entire cast of characters from the old, Marvel Comics War of the Worlds (Martians included), have ALL made appearances in my adventures at one time or another. HOWEVER, I did so in the privacy of my own home with my select gaming group, not posted online for the entire world to see. The former is okay, posting or offering them online is NOT.
Believe me, I know how you feel, too. Why only just recently, a magazine got the rights to have several companies (Palladium Books among them) stat out and “publish” the game stats for the Aliens and Predators. We spent an entire day, not only doing the stats for an Alien, but the typesetting and color page layout for the magazine. It was fun and cool. Alien, Aliens and Predator are three of my favorite films, and these beings make great RPG villains. It was awesome to have the chance to do something “official” with these characters. Everything was done and ready to go when the film company who owns the Trademark and Copyrights changed its mind and killed the deal. We felt cheated and disappointed. All that effort for nothing. A day’s work and a week’s worth of excitement down the drain. We knew fans would have loved seeing these stats, it was a bummer! But that’s the way the cookie crumbles. I can’t just post the Alien’s stats online because I happen to have them done or because I know others would love to see those stats. I don’t own the Aliens, and to post them would be unfair to the true owner – not to mention copyright infringement.
Without going into all the particulars and interpretations of the copyright law, suffice it to say that we’d be taking someone else’s intellectual “property” and using it for our own purpose without permission, which is against the law. Moreover, we’d be posting it online where thousands and thousands of people could see, download and use the material, which is “distribution,” and also illegal according to copyright law. It doesn’t matter that we aren’t charging a penny for it, or that our intentions are good or playful, the Aliens are NOT ours to use. It’s pretty much as simple as that. And it’s not “personal use” since potentially thousands of people are being exposed to the material.
Look, I ask that others respect my copyrights and trademarks, and I try to respect the rights of others. I ask that Palladium fans do likewise.
Maybe it would help if you try to think of these fictional characters, equipment, places and game rules as actual, “physical properties” rather than as “words and ideas.” You wouldn’t like it if your online buddy just “took” and “used” your car without asking, even if he brought it back in perfect condition with a tank full of gas. It’s not his to “take and use” any time he pleases. It’s basically the same with fictional characters and other companies game rules.
That means NO posting conversions to Aliens, Predator, Star Wars, Star Trek, Babylon 5, Spider-Man, the X-Men, or any other characters. Nor conversion rules to any other game system. Okay? Please.
Please note that the copyright laws are such that Palladium MUST stop all “infringers” (even if we know the person loves our stuff and means no harm), otherwise, it can be argued that we have given up our copyright and anyone can use our material. That’s why we ask that gamers who post their own Palladium based characters/creations, house rules, adventures, fiction, etc., include a copyright and Trademark statement like, “Rifts® (or whatever) is a Registered Trademark and copyright of Palladium Books Inc. All rights reserved, worldwide.” Likewise, it is our duty to notify “other” copyright and trademark holders (i.e., other companies) when their trademarks are being infringed upon or (since our fans and our rules are involved) to put a quick stop to the infringement. If that means taking legal action, then that’s what we have to do. We don’t like it, but that’s what we must do, under the law, to protect our copyrights and trademarks, and to prevent similar misuse of other people’s intellectual property rights. We hope you understand.
