More on the Unauthorized WoW Guide Case
by Mike D'Anna 
Apr 3rd 2006 at 3:00PM
We reported a while back about gamer/author Brian
Kopp, who has filed suit against Blizzard for blocking sales of his unauthorized guide to WoW. SecurityFocus.com has an article today that delves a little deeper into the legal
wranglings of the case, and the ensuing debate that has erupted as a result.The author describes how companies such as Blizzard employ what are essentially 'lawbots' to scour the web for anything potentially damaging or infringing & then floods the allegedly offending sites with cease & desist letters which, as in this case, are often heeded with little or no investigation as to their merits, effectively allowing machines to enforce our laws for us, in however small a way. This sound slightly wrong to anyone else? I'm no lawyer (although I played one in the 10th grade), but I'll be damned if I'm gonna let this be the first baby step that allows some filthy robot to give me a ticket for jaywalking one day...
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Fan stuff, Odds and ends, Blizzard, News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
kingmanor Apr 3rd 2006 7:56PM
Its not a 'bot' meaning automated so much as it means that there's not a lot of legal thinking needed to send out cease and desist letters all day so it can be done relatively cheaply. One of the bigger of these is WebSherrif.
http://www.websheriff.com
Kovah Apr 4th 2006 3:00AM
I actually hope he loses the case. He is in effect using someone elses property to earn money. Blizzard has spent millions on marketing WoW, so if they don't want him to sell the book without permission, then he shouldn't. He should in effect have enough respect for Blizzard to take something like that down, or give it away for free. Seeing as it's a eBook, and not an actual paper book.
J-bob Apr 4th 2006 8:26AM
@ Kovah -
1 - Why shouldn't he be able to publish a book about WOW? It's just like any of the other hundreds of help books out there. Ever buy a book about Windows, or Word, or Access that wasn't from MS Publishing? Did you every purchase a test-prep book for the SATs, GMAT, LSATs or any other standardized test? Entire industries are built around providing help and how tos by 3rd parties.
2 - Just because it's an eBook and not paper doesn't mean it should be free. Do you think the printing, paper and distribution costs of the latest best seller are really $15 - $20 and the auther just throws in the words for free? No, you're paying for the words and thoughts. Paper vs Electronic is only about delivery, the value is in the content.
Violencia Apr 4th 2006 9:28AM
Totally agree with you J-bob. Glad you posted right after Kovah or I would have.
kingmanor Apr 4th 2006 12:26PM
J-bob has it exactly right, Kovah doesn't know what he's talking about. Consider WowInsider itself. It is a website about WoW, that makes money thru advertising. They are allowed to talk about WoW all they want. They can even post their little screenshots next to all the articles. Doing this in no way violates any of Blizzard's copyrights. No one needs Blizzard's permission to write anything about WoW, be it a webiste or a ebook guide.
Toltar Apr 4th 2006 1:38PM
Kovah
I am not normally one to flame somebody....BUT PLEASE. Do you work for Blizzard? Worse yet, are you a lawyer? You should send all those self-help books you own back and please remember the next time someone asks you a question about WOW, or anything else for that matter....DONT ANSWER...you might be violating someone's copyright.
J-Bob is right on the money on this one!
Kovah Apr 5th 2006 3:30AM
Talk about blowing up over nothing.
All I was saying is that Blizzard should have the right to chose if someone is to make a book or not. It's their trademark, their product. If Blizzard asks him to stop, then he should have the common decency to listen to them.
He can cry all he wants, but all in all he is trying to make a profit on someone elses success. Specially when Blizzard signed an exclusive deal with BradyGames Strategy Guides.
In short; Blizzards property, Blizzards decision. He can sue all he wants, but it's still Blizzards property.
Mike Apr 5th 2006 8:02AM
I do see your point, Kovah. If someone was to start writing and selling Star Wars fan fiction, Lucas would probably come down on them like a ton of bricks, and I think he would be well within his legal rights to do so. This is kind of the same thing I guess.
But while that may be the law, I would disagree... As long as he states plainly on the guide that it is an "Unofficial" guide, which I believe he does, then I don't see why he shouldn't be allowed to publish it. Realistically, there are hundreds of "unofficial" WoW guides, this site included. It's just that nobody else had the confidence in their product/chutzpah to charge money for it. I don't see why the fact that he is charging money for his guide should make it any more or less legitimate an operation than the hundreds of sites that publish guides for free.
Now I do think that people who pay for it are stupid, due to the wealth of WoW-related information available on the internet for free, as well as Blizzard sanctioned guides published by Brady. But he should be able to sell it if he wants. Ultimately, he wrote it.
Daniel Axelrod Apr 5th 2006 11:49PM
So Kovah, by "common decency", are you arguing that whether or not selling the guide is legal, you think the guy is being a jerk by going against Blizzard's wishes? I'm not sure most of the posters before your clarifiction understood your position to be that.
I'd be curious if they contacted him directly and asked him nicely to stop publishing the guide before telling eBay to take it down. (And no, I don't count legal nastygrams, meaning threats of what they would do if he didn't stop, to be asking nicely.) If they didn't have the common curtesy to do that and just shut down his sales by going over his head, I don't see why he owes them any particular curtesy.
And Mike, Copyright allows review, analysis, discussion, and commentary about somebody else's work. That's the difference between a review of "Star Wars" and a story set in its universe. Likewise with this, he is not using their copyright, he is publishing a work *about* their copyrighted work, which is perfectly legal.
Kovah Apr 7th 2006 3:06AM
http://www.blizzard.com/legalfaq.shtml Read it.
- Can I make and sell my own products (T-shirts, card games, models/figures, etc.) based on a Blizzard universe?
- No. Blizzard Entertainment? does not enter into licensing agreements with individuals. To ensure the quality of all Blizzard products, all of our merchandise is created under a licensing agreement and all prospective licensees are thoroughly reviewed by Blizzard Entertainment before a license is granted. If you are a company that is interested in creating licensed merchandise and your company is looking to pursue a corporate licensing relationship with Blizzard Entertainment, please contact Merchandiselicensing@Blizzard.com.
The only fault he did was try and make money on it. If - like I said - he did it for free Blizzard would most likely not have done anything. It's the fact that he tries to make money on it that ticks Blizzard off, not the guide in itself.
Toltar Apr 7th 2006 11:32AM
Apples and oranges.............
You are equating a product about something as opposed to a product based on something.
If he had written a book 'based' on Blizzards copyright ie; a novel set in Blizzard's universe you could argue that he violated copyright.
What he did was basically write a review of the product in the form of a guide. Two completely different things in the eyes of the law.
Do you think that Microsoft would not sue the living crap out of people if writing 'guides' to thier products violated current copyright law?
I completely support Blizzards right to protect thier copyright....within the boundaries of the law. Thier actions in this case smacks of imtimidation. They just didn't expect the little guy to actually fight back.
He may not previal in this case, but it will be simply because hes going up against a company that has 6 million people paying them $15 a month. They have the funds to bury him under a pile of legalese and I expect thats exactly what they will do. But remember...might doesnt make right...even if Blizzard does win.