I've tried reading the OGL and it honestly makes no sense to me. I'm just wondering what the legal issues, if any, that would surround publishing D&D 5E adventure modules absolutely free of charge? This is of course stating outright that the "product" (pdf) is not associated or endorsed in any way by Wizards of the Coast and that all logos, produt names, etc are the propery of Wizards of the Coast.
I just want to make great adventures for people but I don't want to get into any trouble, and would like to know where and if I need to get permission for it.
This is what I'm working on for my homebrew campaign.
Obviously that stuff has to change due to copyright issues, but wanted to share cuz' I just love the look of it. 
Don't take advice on an internet forum on the legality of these issues. Ask an attorney. That's how every other company that's published for 5e, free or not, has done it.
I think Mistwell is right.
You could also look at what other editors are doing if you can't afford the attorney fees. Necromancer Games and Frog Games already have published 5e adventures.
You could also create a company in a country that has a long tradition of ignoring copyright laws.
But are you sure you're being totally honest here? . There's a company name and the artwork is professional quality. Are you sure this isn't a free product to get people to subsribe to your news letter and sell them the next adventures your design?
Honestly, if free stuff is the end goal, then I can't imagine how you could have trouble with WoTC. It's not any different than a bunch of friends putting their adventures online for others to download them. There are hundreds of those on the Internet.
The goblin kind is fantastic by the way. Did you pay an artist to do it or do you have someone in house that does that kind of work? Do you have a link to the adventure? I'd really be interested in reading it.
Gnarl wrote:
@OP: Why not email WotC and ask them?
no no no, it's just a quick hatchet job I did with a goblin image from the internet. I ripped the cover "module" part from Scourge of the Sword Coast. I've been going by the internet handle Zalbar for over 30 years now, and my buddy (Neil Wesener) has been FetidSockPuppet for almost as long. I just threw that in there to make it look good. I am a stickler for making things look good.
I'm working on getting it done by january 2015, FetidSockPuppet's debut module will be following, and then a collaborative multi-part campaign set in Chult.
This isn't being put out by a company. We have no ulterior motives (though it WoTC likes what we produce and wants to commission us we'd be more than happy to oblige! lol!!) and only want to make good, solid D&D adventures for everyone to enjoy.
Since you seemed a bit interested...
Here's an Excerpt from the beginning:
INTRODUCTION
Court of the Goblin King is a Dungeons & Dragons® adventure for four to five characters of 1st level. During the course of the adventure, the characters may advance to 4th level. If the group is larger or smaller you can adjust the adventure’s difficulty by adding or subtracting from the number of enemies present in a given encounter. The specific locale has been left intentionally vague so that Dungeon Masters can seamlessly insert this adventure into whatever campaign they are running. To run Court of the Goblin King, you will need a copy of the Dungeons & Dragons® 5th Edition rules. The story begins as the adventurers are stopped at a border crossing manned by goblins demanding entry fees.
Adventure Supplements. You can play this adventure with just the Dungeons & Dragons basic rules. All the monsters and magic items are described at the end of this module.
Character Advancement. Optionally, you can use the milestone experience marker. In Court of the Goblin King, the players gain a level after completing each episode.
Special Note. Many of the monsters and NPC’s in Court of the Goblin King have atypical behavior. Dungeon Masters should play them as written in this module instead of the Monster Manual or back of the Player's Handbook.
PREPARING THE ADVENTURE
Before you start the adventure, spend time familiarizing yourself with the locations, events, and characters. The adventure’s background and overview is the most important part to read initially. As characters proceed, get comfortable not only with the locations they’re going to explore, but also with the statistics of the creatures relevant to the area
BACKGROUND
The Goblin King has banded together various factions of normally hostile humanoids together and is carving out a kingdom for himself. Defeating the small clan of dwarves at their mines and renaming it Underhold, he has made that the seat of his kingdom and has now turned his attention to expanding the territory he controls above as well as below ground.
[---- deleted information ---]
EPISODE 1: DEATH & TAXS
Read the following for the players:
The three goblins are border guards sent by the Goblin King to collect fees from all travellers entering the area he considers part of his kingdom. They have been taught a rudimentary common, and know enough to get by if rather overt and obvious gestures are also used to convey meaning. Uncharacteristically brave for goblins, they have a puffed up sense of importance, in part because of the bugbear sitting in the outhouse counting silver. If the PCs attempt to cross the barrier, the spear wielding goblins will screech and poke at them. If they persist, the spear goblins attack. The bugbear bursts forth from the outhouse 1-2 rounds later. The goblin wearing the hat will run away at first opportunity to warn the others at the camp farther in the woods.
If the PCs agree to pay the entry fee consult the following chart.
Mount - 5SP
Cart/Wagon - 3SP
Person - 1GP
Upon payment, the hatted goblin will pull a thin copper card from his belt pouch with an embossed symbol of the three lines on it. Taking a small mallet he stamps the card with a seal and hands the PC the indented card and poking them with his finger while saying “Paaaypuuurz!” while letting them pass.
Zalbarthemad wrote:
Zalbarthemad wrote:
Mistwell wrote:
Zalbarthemad wrote:
Dracones wrote:
Zalbarthemad wrote:
Don't regret it, imho the community is giving you a polite lesson in intellectual property. I like what was said above, if Wizards doesn't go after minor infringements, they can lose their chance at bigger fish. Case in point, Stan Lee Media tried to sue Stan Lee and Sony recently, since they owned the rights to the Spiderman character. Problem is, they didn't assert their IP rights until after three major movies came out, so the judge dismissed their claim.
One of the things that some people do with adventure modules is make them "system agnostic". If you aren't dealing with monster stat blocks and certain names, you can write a module that works not only in 5e, but is compatible with the OSR crowd.
On the art front. If you want free art to use do a search for the term creative common license. Thats the license most open and free artwork falls under. Though you can also search artwork sites(deviantart) and just ask permission from the author if you find a nice piece that you like.
If you're looking to buy art, it really doesn't cost that much. A good place to shop around for artists is at http://forum.rpg.net/forumdisplay.php?12-Game-Freelancing
For an idea on prices see http://www.rpgnow.com/browse.php?cPath=19790 although those are stocks. But still, for 50 bucks you can toss a nice looking full color on the front of your module if you really wanted. I'm not sure if any of those artists would offer up gratis art for their name on a freebie module. Once people go pro they tend to not want to give their work away as they gotta eat.
Zalbarthemad wrote:
FWIW it might not be a terrible idea to publish via an existing company, even if free of charge. If you are a writer who loves the game, I happen to be a lazy DM who likes modules. It wouldn't be bad to let one of these companies release your product for you, since they are well versed in the IP area.
OP:
Find a copyright attorney (it matters). Give him a copy of this thread and the 3e OGL. Let him know the 5e OGL has not yet been published. Ask him if he has enough information to give you meaningful advice. If he does, follow it !
Also look up the Intellectual Copyright book (exact title not remembered) from the Rich Dad's Advisors series. This is for people who want to start their own business, which you may if your work is good enough. On a tangent to your question, but relevant anyways.
Zalbarthemad wrote:
CCS wrote:
Zalbarthemad wrote:
pukunui wrote:
I'm not a lawyer and I agree with the people above that you shouldn't take advice from the internet, but the golden rule is that as long as all of the content you have created is original content and you release it for free, you will be fine. In fact, the players handbook basically says "create your own adventures", so they don't have a legal leg to stand on since the book actually recommends you to do just that.
You however have already broken that rule. Your work is not original. You have borrowed art and the D&D logo, which are copyrighted. Even in this case you are probobly going to be fine. People borrow images and logos from Wizards all the time, the internet is full of them. As long as your not profiting from it I don't think anyone is going to care.
Companies interests are in protecting their property, not suing fans for creating adventures. I'm certain you are safe to release your project, I would however suggest you not use the D&D logo and art. That's technically a violation of the copyrights which actually extend even to non profit ventures as it leads to potential secondary incomes or might infringe on their ability to make income. For example you might release the module for free, but than have advertismnet banners on the website you create where people download it. AKA profiting. Or they might have a plan for creating a module with a particular image you used for your free one creating competition (even though its free) which is also a no no.
Generally you want to respect others work so if you want to include it in your module you need to get their permission or exclude it and put original work in its place.
But in terms of releasing free original adventures, hell we are expected to do that, more than that really, we are instructed and encouraged to do it.
BoldItalic wrote:
Xguild wrote:
Xguild wrote:
Thank you Mistwell.
I posted because I wanted to get a read on if what I was doing was permissible. I was more looking for any precedences or guidelines that WoTC/TSR had issued. This doesn't seem to be the case.
So, it looks like I'll be removing any and all references to D&D, monster stats and all other copyrighted material.
Which had me wondering about something else. No one holds a copyright on generic monster names like goblin, orc, elf, etc. But what about more exotic things like the Ixitxachitl?
I'm assuming that it's ok to reference things that WoTC has released for free, such as the monster and spell lists in the back of the basic rules pc/dm.
Zardnaar wrote:
Zalbarthemad wrote:
Well like I said I'm not a lawyer, but I do surf the internet with regularity and I see these sort of homebrewed adventures released for free all the time and I'm not aware of anyone ever getting sued over it.
I think the general rule of thumb is as long as its original content and you don't profit from the license I don't see how this is any different then making a unique character sheet or creating a new version of a goblin, class, race or otherwise. I mean I wouldn't put a D&D logo on it as the OP has because it looks like he is trying to make a "fake" official Wizards of the Coast product and for that I imagine you might get a nasty email but even with that I doubt he has to worry about legal action.
Zalbarthemad wrote:
FFSAA wrote:
Zalbarthemad wrote: