mod 9 legal battles?

[Vallin]

This thread reads like a George R.R. Martin novel. Such duplicity, entanglement, and intrigue!

Vallin

[SneakThief]

What people seem to forget, WotC is the owner of the Intellectual Property of Dungeons & Dragons, therefore, they can license the name out to whomever they desire (as long as there is not an exclusivity clause in their deal with Atari/Infogrames). They can have multiple licensees on the market and have nothing to fear. Just look at LucasFilms licensing out the Star Wars name for two seperate MMO being developed by two completely seperate companies...

Yes, WotC (wholey owned by Hasbro Inc) owns the IP for D&D. The deal in 2001 with Infogrames (Atari) back in 2001 (then renogotiated in 2005) gave them (Infogrames) exclusive rights to D&D interactive games for 10 years (as of the 2005 deal). At least, thats how I read all the press releases.

Edit: **** ... I missed the Atari logo at the top of the page ... its not down with all the others.

We also have to remember that whom ever has the rights to D&D would more than likely have final approval of anything Turbine does with DDO; that could be the hold up.

The company who holds the rights to D&D many not like something that Turbine is trying to do, and causing the delay.

Well, its possible, but I doubt its likely. There has been mentionin the past, by Turbine, of WotC being consulted on, participating in, or suggesting things. Im having a hard time coming up with what they might do that WotC would have a problem with. There has never been such mention of Atari.

[baylensman]

Veggita comes to Eberon
DDO trading cards
Quote:
The IP exchange will flow both ways for Atari. Atari Inc. CEO Jim Wilson told GameSpot that the company's own stable of brands might be available for other developers to work with.

[Stormanne]

Yes, WotC (wholey owned by Hasbro Inc) owns the IP for D&D. The deal in 2001 with Infogrames (Atari) back in 2001 (then renogotiated in 2005) gave them (Infogrames) exclusive rights to D&D interactive games for 10 years (as of the 2005 deal). At least, thats how I read all the press releases.

Interestingly, the NWN site no longer has the Atari logo on it (only WotC & Hasbro), even though Atari was the original publisher for NWN and NWN2 ...


Well, its possible, but I doubt its likely. There has been mentionin the past, by Turbine, of WotC being consulted on, participating in, or suggesting things. Im having a hard time coming up with what they might do that WotC would have a problem with. There has never been such mention of Atari.

There is another aspect to the exclusivity clause though. If Atari/Infogrames were to default on one aspect or another of the contract, WotC could have an argument for dissolving to exclusivity clause altogether. One thing that could be considered a default would be lacking advertisement for a licensed IP. Meaning that WotC didn't like how little advertising Atari used when promoting the D&D games (NWN, NWN2, and DDO). While it may be petty, it would still be a vaild loophole for WotC to use to expand its license base.

[SneakThief]

Veggita comes to Eberon
DDO trading cards
Quote:
The IP exchange will flow both ways for Atari. Atari Inc. CEO Jim Wilson told GameSpot that the company's own stable of brands might be available for other developers to work with.

Except Atari licenses DBZ as well. Its not thier IP. And they only have right to D&D computer games, not card games. Basically what he was saying is they plan on licensing out thier IP in some cases, as well as licensing from others.

There is another aspect to the exclusivity clause though. If Atari/Infogrames were to default on one aspect or another of the contract, WotC could have an argument for dissolving to exclusivity clause altogether. One thing that could be considered a default would be lacking advertisement for a licensed IP. Meaning that WotC didn't like how little advertising Atari used when promoting the D&D games (NWN, NWN2, and DDO). While it may be petty, it would still be a vaild loophole for WotC to use to expand its license base.

Yeah ... could be ... but with Atari hemoraging money, selling off rights to things right and left, getting out of the distribution business, and saying they want to focus on interal IP ... I would be more inclined to believe a sale over a breach.