StratosVX wrote:If the quests haven't changed from the original, then yes we may need to take down the quest books that are on the site. As for scans of the rules, it would be better to type out the sections you are comparing as opposed to scanning the rulebook and posting it here.
And then the confusion becomes greater. not only the wording in the opening post here.
posting copied AH HeroQuest material that hasn't yet been publicly unreleased by Hasbro. Offending material and links will be removed.
hasn't yet been publicly unreleased ????
But all previous content HASBRO has been giving away for free as is custom for them to make sure people that lose their game rules will always be able to play games without having to buy a new copy just for the rules, when HASBRO and all its subsidiaries stopped selling game parts like dice, playing pieces, and extra rulebook copies nearly 20 years ago
https://consumercare.hasbro.com/en-us/instructions?q=%2Fen-us%2Finstructions%2F&q=Hero+Quest
Original instructions:
https://www.hasbro.com/common/instruct/HeroQuest.PDF
original game quest book:
https://www.hasbro.com/common/instruct/HeroQuest,questbook.PDF
https://www.hasbro.com/common/instruct/Hero_Quest_Quest_Book.PDF
Kellar's Keep:
https://www.hasbro.com/common/instruct/HeroQuestKellarsKeepQuestBook.pdf
Return of the Witch Lord:
https://www.hasbro.com/common/instruct/HeroQiest-ReturnoftheWitchLordQuestBook.PDF
https://www.hasbro.com/common/instruct/Hero_Quest_Return_of_the_Witch_Lord_Quest_Book.PDF
Barbarian Quest book (Frozen Horror):
https://www.hasbro.com/common/instruct/HeroQuest-BarbarianQuestBook,thefrozenhorror.PDF
Elf quest book (Magic mirror):
https://www.hasbro.com/common/instruct/HeroQuest-QuestbookfortheElf,themagicofthemirror.PDF
https://www.hasbro.com/common/instruct/Hero_Quest_Quest_book_for_the_Elf,_the_magic_of_the_mirror.PDF
I seriously doubt HASBRO to remove those as it is part of their customer care even though the original game and expansions have been out of print for 30 years, yet they still wished people to have access as early s i found the copies of those books on the HASBRO website at least 6 years ago.
While copyright remains, HASBRO is not selling those older products, and have freely given them away during the time they did not own the Trademark, and part of those quest books are still possibly not fully owned by HASBRO as some references still belong to Games Workshop and cannot by copyright to HASBRO.
SO how could they be infringing when HASBRO has been giving them away freely for a decade or more, when HASBRO didn't even own the trademark to the IP at that time, Mon Design Publishing did?
I can understand new art, but the old quests are now defunct copyrights due to the loss of the trademark in some countries. Thus why it was recently at last I heard Spain the latest that Blaze said would be getting a possible retail version as HASBRO tries to gain the copyright in all territories.
This is just becoming more and more of a mess, and if HASBRO should seek to dismantle a place that has been providing what it has been providing for free for a decade or more, then it is likely to have NO future for HeroQuest as a product line if it, like T$R did, decides to attack its customers and fans.
so who owns the art to the old quest books? HASBRO should be owning it for the new ones as we have seen Rogar Hall has new art for monsters and furniture, mostly because they needed a replacement for Fimir, but likely due to upgrade as well as HASBRO doesn't have copyright to the original iconography anymore without GW consent?
I am actually surprised even Rogar, Telor, Durgin, or Ladril are even allowed as they might be names that GW owned from the original Instruction book as they appeared in a White Dwarf magazine, if i remember correctly? Yet we have Rogar's Hall, which means it belongs to or has something to do with the Barbarian Prince hero, and Prophecy of Telor, relating to our Wizard Hero by name.
can anyone show anything other than minis images? or do photograph copyrights hold true unlike when GW tried to charge everyone who took a picture of a Warhammer product with copyright infringement, but the courts ruled that a photograph, no matter what it is of, is copyright to the person who took it. (see that Wikipedia photograph taken by a monkey that the man wanted removed since the monkey stole his camera to take the picture.)
If people start getting banned en-masse from Ye Olde Inn for doing things they have been doing because they are unaware of what legal precedent a reprint with shaky copyright and trademark circumstances is, then Ye Olde Inn will also likely not last much longer, so clear delineation of what is and is not allowed needs to be given, not vague guesses.
Eve if RAW text comparison is done, that would be in violation of copyright as per SCOTUS:
Games rules cannot be copywritten, only their presentation
Which was a landmark decision in Wizards of the Coast lawsuit over trying to sue Pokemon Company for its "tap" mechanic, whereas WotC gained the trademark to the term "tap" but could not call infringement upon any game that has a mechanic that turns a card sideways. Many other HeroQuest rules are also generic things, but may have special names, and only such names can be trademarked or copyright, a word mark if you will.
People are being told by FedEx app that they should be seeing their games today, November 3rd, 2021, whether that is right wrong or indifferent, the information needs to be posted clearly what Ye Olde Inn will allow and not allow to be posted from known game components.
Nobody is wanting to violate HASBRO rights, at least nobody i have seen on Ye Olde Inn, others on YouTube are clearly doing that with new video game versions they are trying to spam in people's comments. But people need to know as this is now delving into very dark territory for Ye Olde Inn and all of its users.
https://support.google.com/legal/answer/4558992?hl=en
for those listed PDF files HASBRO gives freely on its website as part of its customer care I think those pre-existing things on Ye Olde Inn would constitute:
4. The effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value of, the copyrighted work
Uses that harm the copyright owner's ability to profit from his or her original work by serving as a replacement for demand for that work are less likely to be fair uses.
As it cannot harm anyone since it has been free for decades and is also housed in many places other than Ye Olde Inn, I think HASBRO would be a hard road to press charges or sue almost anyone for pulling older material that they have given away freely. Doesn't mean they can't or wont, but the backlash would destroy the new HeroQuest release.
again, people need to know exact things they can and cannot discuss or spoil, as well as images thereof, because it wont be long until videos appear on YouTube of everything and a 1080p video can easily be screenshot and printed by anyone just wanting to play a quest with their "print and play" version of HQ that has been making the rounds.
draw the lines in the sand so people know which side to stand on with unboxings and discussions of this new version of the game and its contents.
(I give it 1 week before Board Game Geek has everything posted in OCR'd text PDF scans after people start getting their copies of the game anyway, for archive and educational purposes.)