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Old 05-30-2003, 07:28 PM   #11
Brody
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Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: North Carolina
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Explain to me, in simple legal terms, how his paying to advertise for a free game inspired by the works of Tolkien, that in no way drains money from the Tolkien estate, is a rip-off of intellectual property?

Let's say I run a middle earth tabletop game in a coffee shop in town. I go down to Kinko's and make fliers to post on the gaming shop bulletin board. The flier says "Immerse yourself in Isengard!" And then proceeds to give basic information about the gaming sessions and the times when those sessions are held, plus directions to the coffee shop. Now, the gaming sessions are absolutely free - of course, you might want to go buy some Tolkien roleplaying materials or Tolkien's books to learn more about it (thus actually HELPING the estate of J.R.R. Tolkien and the corporations that have licensing agreements to publish such materials). Would it then be a violation of intellectual property rights to have run these games, at my own expense, and advertised to get people to come play?

I am still unsure where your footing is for all of this.
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