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Post by scp999 on May 29, 2024 12:44:57 GMT
Sorry for my bad English, I translated this via Google Translate, I wanted to ask as politely as possible.
In February this year, Wizards of the Coast announced that it would no longer provide simplified Chinese and Portuguese products. (https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/announcements/changes-to-magic-product-languages-in-2024)
For future official Magic: The Gathering series that are not available in Chinese, can I translate them into Chinese and then publish the card image files on the Internet for free? Will there be any legal issues in doing so?
Doctor Who (WHO) and Tales of Middle-earth Commander (LTC) in 2023, and Bloomburrow (BLB) in 2024 are Magic: The Gathering series that will not be in Chinese now or in the future. I am also a fan of Doctor Who and The Lord of the Rings, and I really hope to play Magic: The Gathering in a language that I am familiar with. Second question: If it can be crafted, or is just a normal DIY customization, do I need to keep the copyright text in the lower right corner of the card?（™ & © 2023 Wizards of the Coast）Or should I remove this text? Or replace it with "unofficial translate by xxx"?
Thanks everyone.
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Post by scp999 on May 29, 2024 12:47:20 GMT
I read the following at magicseteditor.boards.net/ and magicseteditor.boards.net/page/forum-rules:Disclaimer: Magic Set Editor is exclusively for the creation of custom cards, and is not to be used for counterfeiting or fakery. Please check the forum rules for more information on this. 9. Do not use MSE for counterfeiting. Renders designed to be exact or near-exact copies of existing, canonical cards are not permitted. You are permitted to create alters or reprints of real cards, but they should have at least one of the following: different art, different flavor text, or an obviously non-canon card frame. Differences in set symbol or collector information alone are not clear enough. What if I don't use MSE but use Photoshop to make the images? Is it legal to translate the official cards in this way? To be honest, MSE is not very compatible with Chinese. Chinese Magic: The Gathering needs to be right-aligned, but MSE cannot align it automatically. English Magic: The Gathering does not have the problem of right-aligning because the words are of different lengths. Attachments:
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Post by scp999 on May 29, 2024 12:51:04 GMT
I asked at magic-support.wizards.com/, and his email reply told me to read 《Wizards of the Coast's Fan Content Policy》（https://company.wizards.com/en/legal/fancontentpolicy）,but this article says: 【The key is that it is your creation. It should go without saying, but Fan Content does notinclude the verbatim copying and reposting of Wizards’ IP (e.g., freely distributing D&D® rules content or books, creating counterfeit/proxy _Magic: The Gathering_® cards, etc.), regardless of whether that content is distributed for free.】 Does that mean even DIY customization is not possible? |
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Post by scp999 on May 29, 2024 13:02:32 GMT
There are very few Magic players in China. In my city, there are less than 20 players. But every player loves Magic very much, and many people participate in WPN in-store competitions. However, WIZARDS Decided not to publish Chinese version. I think this is very unreasonable. As far as I know, there is a store selling proxy cards on the largest shopping website in China (similar to eBay) (even though China has a population of 1.3 billion, there is only one store selling proxy cards on this shopping website with 500 million registered users, which shows that there are indeed few Magic players in China). This store sells plain cards for 0.8 yuan (0.11 US dollars) and flash cards for 7 yuan (0.97 US dollars). As long as you send the image file to him, he can print it, so DIY customization is also possible, but his card back is modified, and the white circle on the back of the card is replaced by emoji expressions to distinguish it from the real card. I don't know if this is legal in other countries. I really want to translate these cards into Chinese, but I am worried about legal issues. Attachments:
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Post by scp999 on May 29, 2024 16:55:55 GMT
This is the email WIZARDS sent me:
Hello,
Thank you for contacting Wizards of the Coast Customer Support! You have received this email in response to your request to use certain Wizards’ intellectual property. We are responding to let you know that upon review of the description of your project, it looks like your request is covered by our Wizards of the Coast Fan Content Policy, which you can find here.(https://company.wizards.com/en/legal/fancontentpolicy)
Wizards is not providing special permissions for use of our intellectual property outside of what is allowed via the Fan Content Policy. If you’re unsure if your project complies with our Fan Content Policy, we recommend you seek advice from your own legal counsel. We do not offer the service of advising compliance with legal documents like our Fan Content Policy. We very much appreciate your patience and cooperation with this matter.
Wizards of the Coast | Customer Service
Email support is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week here.
I haven’t found a lawyer yet. I want to collect all the information before paying an intellectual property lawyer. In China, intellectual property protection is relatively weak, but I’m not sure and I don’t want to be sued.
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Post by fluffydeathbringer on May 30, 2024 22:55:22 GMT
We are responding to let you know that upon review of the description of your project, it looks like your request is covered by our Wizards of the Coast Fan Content Policy, which you can find here.(https://company.wizards.com/en/legal/fancontentpolicy) it looks like you're fine, WoTC has confirmed that what you're doing is within the Fan Content Policy. no need to worry about lawyers, just go ahead and do it |
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Post by scp999 on May 31, 2024 0:50:04 GMT
We are responding to let you know that upon review of the description of your project, it looks like your request is covered by our Wizards of the Coast Fan Content Policy, which you can find here.(https://company.wizards.com/en/legal/fancontentpolicy) it looks like you're fine, WoTC has confirmed that what you're doing is within the Fan Content Policy. no need to worry about lawyers, just go ahead and do it Thank you. To be on the safe side, I am going to consult an intellectual property lawyer. Also, should I keep or remove the copyright information (™ & © 2023 Wizards of the Coast) in the lower right corner of the card? Or should I replace it with (unofficial translate by xxx)? Thank you very much. |
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Post by Daij_Djan on May 31, 2024 9:25:39 GMT
Hi scp999 , as you've seen in our disclaimer, MSE does not permit using our program for recreating official Magic cards in a way they're not distinguishable (or hard to do so) from the original. Honestly speaking we need to be firm on that stance to not get into trouble with WotC ourselves - especially as they definitely know MSE exists and have shut down simiar programs/services like us not having this rule. As far as using other programs to do the same thing, I can't offer you much legal help either I'm afraid - simply because (a) I wouldn't want this to be seen as "blurring the line" by WotC and (b) I honestly don't know that much about American (let alone Chinese) copyright law. Also I'm not sure how "similar" WotC would consider recreating existing cards in a language they literally don't exist in. What I can say is that I personally really like your project and definitely hope everything checks out  I do agree with fluffydeathbringer 's comment about the email response looking fine so far. As far as the copyright information, I have seen different takes on this (again, no legal expert here^^) - which is why we're not as strict as checking it here on the forum as we're with artist credit in comparison, f.e. - but I'd advice in keeping it even for your translations. The game itself, the templates and icons used are still official after all - so crediting WotC for them seems fair (and potentially required). Good luck with your project - I hope everything works out for you! |
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Post by scp999 on May 31, 2024 10:51:59 GMT
Hi scp999 , as you've seen in our disclaimer, MSE does not permit using our program for recreating official Magic cards in a way they're not distinguishable (or hard to do so) from the original. Honestly speaking we need to be firm on that stance to not get into trouble with WotC ourselves - especially as they definitely know MSE exists and have shut down simiar programs/services like us not having this rule. As far as using other programs to do the same thing, I can't offer you much legal help either I'm afraid - simply because (a) I wouldn't want this to be seen as "blurring the line" by WotC and (b) I honestly don't know that much about American (let alone Chinese) copyright law. Also I'm not sure how "similar" WotC would consider recreating existing cards in a language they literally don't exist in. What I can say is that I personally really like your project and definitely hope everything checks out I do agree with fluffydeathbringer 's comment about the email response looking fine so far. As far as the copyright information, I have seen different takes on this (again, no legal expert here^^) - which is why we're not as strict as checking it here on the forum as we're with artist credit in comparison, f.e. - but I'd advice in keeping it even for your translations. The game itself, the templates and icons used are still official after all - so crediting WotC for them seems fair (and potentially required). Good luck with your project - I hope everything works out for you! Thank you for your answer, very professional and reference, I will consider using Photoshop to make.Thank you so much! |
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"When in doubt, do a common."