I received an email from Wizards of the Coast (“WotC”) demanding that I take down my one-stop stat blocks. Unsurprisingly, the email didn’t provide an actual argument, but it raises some important issues as to what’s copyrightable and what isn’t. WotC has a history of taking advantage of gamers’ ignorance of contract and intellectual property law and lack of wealth when making similar demands, thus harming the gaming community and industry, so it’s time those issues are addressed. Most of the following arguments apply to any role-playing game produced by any game designer.

This is the first of three blog posts that I’m going to put out as quickly as possible. They’re entitled:

1. 1. Copyrightability of Stat Blocks
   2. Copyrightability of Spell Descriptions
   3. The Damage Done to the Gaming Community and Industry by the Otherwise Ineffectual Open Gaming License (OGL)

In case it isn’t clear, WotC does not endorse this post or…