Sharing the PDF

[JayTee]

So, I love the Dresden Files RPG, and I want to share it with my friends. Sadly none of them live anywhere close to me so we can't all get together and play. I have the PDF, and am wondering if it would be allowed for me to use an email service to send it to them? If this is possible, what would be the best way to go about doing this so it doesn't infringe upon Evil Hat or Jim Butcher?

I don't want to be accused of illegally spreading around copies or anything...  

EDIT: If it helps at all, I am using a Macbook Pro

[paul_Harkonen]

While this is clearly a question for Fred or Evil Hat to reply to, my rule of thumb for any PDF is to treat it just like you would a real book.  If you "lend" it out, then you don't have it anymore.  Send a copy to your friend, but delete your own copy, and don't send it to everyone.  This is (in my mind) the same as passing around the real book, or passing around a laptop at the table.  Your table just happens to be digital.  I don't know what the official word is, but that's how someone phrased it to me.  (Personally, just tell your friends to buy the PDFs too, [which I assume is the point of sharing it] cause the game is awesome.)

[InFerrumVeritas]

So, I love the Dresden Files RPG, and I want to share it with my friends. Sadly none of them live anywhere close to me so we can't all get together and play. I have the PDF, and am wondering if it would be allowed for me to use an email service to send it to them? If this is possible, what would be the best way to go about doing this so it doesn't infringe upon Evil Hat or Jim Butcher?

I don't want to be accused of illegally spreading around copies or anything...  

EDIT: If it helps at all, I am using a Macbook Pro

Not sure why your Mac makes any difference.  It's not legal.  The difference between lending someone a PDF and lending someone a real book is that the book can only be one place at one time.  The PDF can be used by all of you simultaneously (and independently).  It is copyright infringement.  Sorry.  I know it can suck, but it is.

[sinker]

The best way to share it with them and not have to worry about it is send them to Google books. Evil hat has graciously put about half of Your Story up there. If they like it then they can pick up their own copies.

[JayTee]

Not sure why your Mac makes any difference.  It's not legal.

It was in case it was legal and there was an optimum way to go about doing it with a Mac. Sadly, it seems its a moot issue. 

[wyvern]

I'm having trouble finding a really good link, but consider the interview here: http://oz-e-books.com/news/2011/3/1/evil-hat-productions-on-pdf-paper-and-selling-to-game-master.html

Scroll down a few questions, and you come upon the following quote:

Well, you gotta be careful about the copies of the PDF files thing from a legal perspective. At Evil Hat, we suggest that a PDF copy could be shared like a book (limited access, you get rid of it after you "borrow it for the weekend", that sort of thing) as fair use, but everyone just getting a copy of the PDF that the GM got without paying for it is piracy.

I remember reading the same thing in some more official location, but am having trouble tracking that down.

[WizardJay]

Some friends of mine and I were planning to do an online version of the game (the closest one to me is in Georgia, on the other side of the country), but I was the only one who had the books. What we were going to do was I would send them the PDFs so that they could research the game, read up, and design their characters, and once we were ready to play was they'd delete them and I'd run the game from home, using the books and the PDF to keep things straight. It'd just be between the group of us, everyone could make the notes they wanted to make and laugh at the comments in the margins, and it was basically the only feasible way to do this (mailing two heavy books like that around the world would have been a nightmare. An expensive nightmare, and we might as well have bought everyone books at that point).

I'm not the best person to answer this question, but I'd go with treating the PDFs like a book: only one person has the file at a time, everyone's asking questions and getting answers, and the people with the hard copy and the PDF help fill everyone else in. Treat it like you would a regular book would probably be the best answer. But I'd recommend asking someone higher-up on the chain than "fanboy."


As a side note, Evil Hat is super-awesome. The store I bought the books from were not a part of the program where you'd get a free PDF download with the book, but I asked someone there if I could still participate. A quick proof of purchase and a picture of me holding both physical copies later, and I had the email with the PDFs. I've got 'em loaded on my iPad so they can go EVERYWHERE with me.

[paul_Harkonen]

I'm having trouble finding a really good link, but consider the interview here: http://oz-e-books.com/news/2011/3/1/evil-hat-productions-on-pdf-paper-and-selling-to-game-master.html

I knew there was a reason I thought the stance of Evil Hat (or at least Fred Hicks) was similar to mine.

Not sure why your Mac makes any difference.  It's not legal.  The difference between lending someone a PDF and lending someone a real book is that the book can only be one place at one time.  The PDF can be used by all of you simultaneously (and independently).  It is copyright infringement.  Sorry.  I know it can suck, but it is.

Its not nearly as cut and dry as that.  Copyright law is one of the messiest worst defined areas of the law around.  What is and isn't "legal" depends rather heavily on who owns the rights, which judge hears your case, and what week your case goes to court (ok, not quite as bad as that but you get the idea.)  What constitutes fair use is an equally fuzzy area of copyright law, especially when it comes to digital media.  The final decision regarding what they consider infringement is up to Evil Hat and whatever judge hears your case, but it isn't nearly as simple and direct as "share the PDF, you're guilty"  (I'm not saying it is legal either, just saying that this issue isn't cut and dry.  I'd wait for Fred or someone else from Evil Hat to jump in, and until then we all just admit it isn't clear cut and that we all have no idea.

[Team8Mum]

Under 'review' laws there are limits on amounts of a book you can 'quote' as part of reviewing or promoting it. (At least in the UK)
Which I think is what is going on in the google case.
Arguing that as the bases, You could just extract the pages need for character generation so they can sort out their characters

I figure that would be
chapter 4&5,
pg 98-100 to give an over view of aspects,
the skill list on pg 120,
the big list of powers on pg160-161
- there is no list of stunt, but you could pull an over view together like the powers list

That would be a sizeable amount of the book - and is probably still illegal under copy write -
but as it does not include all the juicy details, (like the information on how to do magic) it would not be enough to run it on their own, but that would be enough to create their characters for your games

(Note Fred - there is a potential product there! $5 booklet containing over view for character gen only)

So there would still be a good reason for them to buy their own copy when they realise how good the game is, and managed to scrape together the cash, which I assume is why they can not go with the ideal option of buying there own copy of the PDF...

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=80984

[sinker]

Under 'review' laws there are limits on amounts of a book you can 'quote' as part of reviewing or promoting it. (At least in the UK)
Which I think is what is going on in the google case.

Actually Fred Hicks/Evil Hat put it there. He said so.
http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/topic,25438.msg1080000.html#msg1080000

[InFerrumVeritas]

Interesting (well probably not) thought: What about if you're screensharing or using a remote login type of system?  Allowing friends to remotely access my computer (so the files remain in my possession) but they can check them out in full and use them (without gaining possession of them) like one could potentially do with a hard copy...

[Priscellie]

Fred told me: 

For Evil Hat, share our [PDF] stuff like you'd share a book. The other guy who didn't buy has to "give back" (delete) the PDF after a reasonable period of time for the loan. Don't share it somewhere public, obviously.

For gaming in general.... yeah, mostly frowned upon because most companies are freaking out about piracy, but we like treating our fans like friends and we let friends share their damn books whether they're printed on paper or electrons.

[Set Abominae]

I encourage you to encourage your friends to buy, buy, buy. Evil Hat earns their pesos!

[JayTee]

Thank you very much for the information regarding the PDF, it told me exactly what I needed to know!

I encourage you to encourage your friends to buy, buy, buy. Evil Hat earns their pesos!

I agree with this statement 100%! 

[TheMouse]

It's nice to see yet another area where Evil Hat rocks. They just keep popping up.