Avalon Hill HeroQuest posting restrictions

[Shadzar]

So to my understanding we can't link to images posted by HASBRO employees of the new HeroQuest components or assets that THEY release to the public themselves on websites like social media?

Since we know that the HeroQuest Twitter account is not owned or operated by HASBRO, does that mean all imagery used from that since August 2020, has to be removed from Ye Olde Inn?

Likewise the Avalon Hill Twitter and Instagram are owned and operated by the same Khoros Marketing, and thus all posts from Avalon Hill on social media are also verbotten?

EDIT: Linking to any image online, known as hot-linking. would them be a violation of copyright, and ALL linked images online need to be removed from Ye Olde Inn to comply with copyright laws, if this is the route, Ye Olde Inn wishes to go, and only allow images Ye Olde Inn itself hosts, and then anyone uploading images to Ye Olde Inn that are in violation of Ye Olde Inn policies on copyright are up to Ye Olde Inn decision.

to ban images hot-linked form official sources and released to the public by those official sources, are an attack on the users of Ye Olde Inn.

Go figure, I was targeted for this sort of attack by moderation.

HeroQuest material that hasn't yet been publicly released by Hasbro. Offending material and links will be removed.

I am linking one such image here for clarification, and can been seen the copyright to HASBRO is clearly included, and the image was also released in multiple places including during the Pulse Campaign by HASBRO in multiple ways.

This image is from the artists own Twitter account, showing off her work, was used on the card art for the Orc hero during the campaign for the back of the card to show the bard new spells, on the site that also gave us "Rogar's Hall" quest, but is somehow not allowed on Ye Olde Inn?

https://heroquest.avalonhill.com/en-us/article/heroquest_bard_playtest

https://twitter.com/nikkidawesdraws/status/1456702545762652160

Also considering how HASBRO works after the Magic the Gathering artist lawsuit, there is no way to know IF Nikki owns that art to even sell prints any longer, and HASBRO might fully own it, thus had to give her permission, or even request her to release the full art to drum up interest in the new game should it move to retail.

Where exactly must hot-linked images come from as "official HASBRO sources"?

Pursuant to Fair-Use laws, the above images were posted in this thread for research and educational purposes, and in the case of copyright, this makes Fair-use trump the owners rights for posting in THIS thread.

under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.

[iKarith]

I don't foresee any problems linking anything posted by Hasbro people. If it's linked, that means Hasbro posted it and theoretically they gave themselves permission. Attachments are where we can get into trouble.

It's moderators' call how carefully to limit attachments. Seems they're intending to err a little on the side of restricting actual uploads a little more than they maybe need to, especially in the short term. If they're going to make a mistake, it's much better to make a mistake that limits what we can upload for the time being than that they make one that gets Hasbro legal to start writing cease and desist letters.

Images at least are easy to upload to imgur or something. And actually, my intent when we get around to upgrading forum software is to include a plugin that will let you imgur a pic as easily as attach it directly.

I imagine some of that may relax a little once the new edition is out there in everyone's hands and we see what Hasbro is going to

[Shadzar]

I don't foresee any problems linking anything posted by Hasbro people. If it's linked, that means Hasbro posted it and theoretically they gave themselves permission. Attachments are where we can get into trouble.

I don't know how to make attachments here, and as you can see, all linked images from Twitter, had the link destroyed by a moderator, then accusing me of copyright violations, and defamation of character, which I am now speaking to legal counsel about suing the owner of Ye Olde Inn for such public statements as applied by the law in what was written in the moderation comments for the edits to the posts.

If any linked Twitter image is in violation of copyright, then all are, meaning ALL hot-linked images are in violation of copyright and the IMG BBCode tag should be removed from the forum software, in the interest of Ye Olde Inn keeping its Section 230 protections, since it wants to strictly apply copyright law itself rather than follow DMCA and real copyright law, while accusing people fraudulently of violating copyright laws, that its moderation do not understand.

Going to suck for you having to rewrite the forums to remove the IMG tag and scour the database to remove all linked images using it, since that seems to be the rules being applied, unless I am being harassed by this specific moderator and being targeted for that harassment as the same rules have applied to NOBODY else, while this same moderator partakes in pirating HASBRO IP directly on Ye Olde Inn forums since 2014.

That phrase keeps coming up in many places these days

Rules for thee, but not for me.

Guess I should notify the rights holders of all the pirated material that has been shared openly (attachments and links) on the forums to properly send DMCA's to Ye Olde Inn administration and owners, and Ye Olde Inn web hosting service, as it may be the only way for specific moderators to learn what the laws are and how not to abuse them, or try to use the laws to abuse users of the forums.

[StratosVX]

Where exactly must hot-linked images come from as "official HASBRO sources"?

Right in the opening post of this thread, which you indicate you have read (and even misquoted) right in your own posts when you gave push back on these rules:

In order to insure Ye Olde Inn may continue supporting the Hero Quest hobby as we have come to expect, some ground rules need to be introduced regarding the new Avalon Hill edition of HeroQuest. I'd like to thank all Inn members in advance for your consideration.

Since Hasbro has thankfully taken anew an interest in producing HeroQuest content, it is important that we respect their interests in return. Ye Olde Inn has no plans to provide download-able Avalon Hill HeroQuest files, as it is Inn policy to not compete with a product currently being sold.

The Member Respect rule for the forums will also be extended to Hasbro in that copying and sharing new AH game material that is currently being sold will be assumed offensive by them and by extension the Inn Wizards. Normal rules apply: warnings, bans, and even exile may follow for posting copied AH HeroQuest material that hasn't yet been publicly released by Hasbro. Offending material and links will be removed.

This is not to say that all things AH HeroQuest are off the menu. For example, Rogar's Hall was openly released by AH, so you can find it in a topic here as well (in an improved form.) Discussion, rules modification, new Quests, and all the other things we readily engage in together at the Inn is encouraged, just be sure you aren't posting copies in the forum of unreleased material that is still being produced and sold.

If you find new material online you wish to post but are unsure that Hasbro considers it shared, I recommend linking to the material rather than posting copy-ready images and complete text in the forum.

If it is publicly available from Hasbro, then you should have linked the Hasbro version to avoid your link being deleted. You keep referencing copyright law, but are disregarding the Ye Olde Inn rule put forth in this very thread and that is the result of the discipline.

[iKarith]

[Removed … best not stirring that all up again. Basically, Copyright … is a mess.]

[Kurgan]

Hopefully by now things have cooled off, and I know you were gone for awhile (once again welcome back ikarith) and wanted to get your two cents in, but if it were me, I'd just lock the thread and move on, but it's not my call to make, either...

[iKarith]

Maybe I should have said … less … but the point about needing to be careful to avoid actually poking the bear at Hasbro is one that needed making. It's not that we're on thin ice, it's that the ice is already broken and we're jumping up and down on it. We aren't falling in because Hasbro is holding us up while pretending they haven't noticed us so they don't feel like they need to do something about us.

If I'm the closest thing we have to having any expertise here on the subject … I'm not a lawyer. And the org I was involved with at the time I learned the things I know made damned sure to walk softly when it came to Copyright because even a halfway serious lawsuit would've ended Debian, just like it would the Inn.

I ought to have left it at that. Any more was probably unnecessary and … probably won't be read anyway.