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[5e-Cleric]

This discussion is made to have a reliable and easy to find log of the conversations via E-Mail or other media with any company about licensing or other similar matters.

[5e-Cleric]

Conversation between @calculuschild (Trevor Buckner) and Wizards of The Coast

Initial message to WoTC:

Trevor buckner sends:

Feb 14, 2022, 9:07 PM PST

What is the Wizards of the Coast policy on mimicking the fonts and colors found in official D&D books with regards to fan content or for sale on DMs Guild? The Fan Content policy doesn't seem to address these.

For instance:

Can I replicate the parchment texture on the pages of the Player's Handbook?
Can I use the style of textboxes and borders for tables as found in the Dungeon Master's guide?
Can I use fonts I find in Adobe InDesign if they look nearly identical to official fonts?
Can I replicate the front and back cover design (including logos, the "Dungeons & Dragons" banner from the side, fonts) assuming the actual artwork is my own?
Should I credit WoTC with the design if I do? Should I include any other special legal notice?
Additionally, if I choose to use sell my content using the OGL license instead, do these rules change (assuming the actual text content is my own)?

Thank you!

Response from WoTC:

Support Agent (Wizards of the Coast)

Feb 15, 2022, 10:25 AM PST

Hello,

Thank you for contacting Wizards of the Coast. You have received this email in response to your request to use certain Wizards’ intellectual property.

Currently, we offer two ways the public can publish RPG products using our properties: the Dungeon Master’s Guild program (“DM's Guild”) and the Open Gaming License (“OGL”). At this time, we are not considering licenses to use our Dungeons & Dragons rules that do not fit into the DM's Guild or OGL. We are also not considering licenses to use any of our other non-D&D RPG rules at this time.

If you want to create and sell content (adventures, monsters, backgrounds, etc.) using Wizards’ intellectual property, you may do so exclusively through the DM's Guild website: www.DMsGuild.com or www.DungeonMastersGuild.com.

If you want to make a game or product incorporating Dungeons & Dragons rules sets and system reference documents (“SRD”), please review the OGL available online at:

http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/systems-reference-document-srd

If your request is not covered by the methods above, we are not extending the permissions on an individual basis or providing information on when the licenses may be expanded to other editions or games.

Wizards of the Coast | Customer Service
Email support is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week here.

Systems Reference Document (SRD) - D&D Beyond
The Systems Reference Document (SRD) contains guidelines for publishing content under the Open-Gaming License (OGL) or Creative Commons. Learn more abou...

Followup with DMsGuild

Trevor Buckner asks:

What is the DMs Guild policy on mimicking the fonts and colors found in official D&D books? The Content Creator's articles don't seem to address these.

For instance:

Can I replicate the parchment texture on the pages of the Player's Handbook?
Can I use the style of textboxes and borders for tables as found in the Dungeon Master's guide?
Can I use fonts I find in Adobe InDesign if they look nearly identical to official fonts?
Can I replicate the front and back cover design (including logos, the "Dungeons & Dragons" banner from the side, fonts) assuming the actual artwork is my own?
Should I credit WoTC with the design if I do? Should I include any other special legal notice?
Concerning the OGL, we wanted to be certain due to some of the phrasing we found in the OGL document:

Clause 1E: " (e) "Product Identity" means product and product line names, logos and identifying marks including trade dress; artifacts; creatures characters; stories... etc...."
Clause 7: "Use of Product Identity: You agree not to Use any Product Identity, including as an indication as to compatibility, except as expressly licensed in another, independent Agreement with the owner of each element of that Product Identity.

Thank you!

Response from DMsGuild

Hello,

Thanks for reaching out to us!

You won't find anything in the FAQs because trade dress typically isn't able to be trademarked, so to answer your questions in order:
-Yes
-Yes
-Yes
-Yes, you can use the red "sash" but you cannot use the official "Dungeons & Dragons" logos (this would be covered in our FAQs on Logo and Artwork)
-There's no need to credit WotC with the design as trade dress isn't trademarked.

For the most part, WotC probably wouldn't do anything about using small things like the sash, or other general trade dress, as long as you aren't using any symbols or artwork.

All of this would also apply if you published using the OGL on another site like DriveThruRPG. But, if you want to be super safe you could avoid those things in your product.

Hope that helps and let me know if you have any other questions!

Cheers,
Jack Kiser