I know printing is a super touchy subject - for obvious reasons. No one wants any legal issues. Full disclosure: I've worked in graphic design & print for the 10 years.
That said, places like mtggoldfish.com obviously print their own tokens (https://www.mtggoldfish.com/shop/mtggoldfish). They're not using Wizards formatting, imagery, symbols, or fonts - but clearly have "Artifact Creature - Thopter... 1/1... Flying". I'm assuming they have no permission of any kind considering there's no Wizards TM note. I concede I'm unsure on this fact though. I take it because no stolen formatting, imagery, symbols, or fonts are used, this is kosher?
Only "Thopter" could possibly be construed as infringement. Words like Creature and Flying cannot be copyrighted.
The thing with "Thopter" is that it is derived from the word Ornithopter. I'm not 100% of the etymology of the word but can guarantee that Ornithopter pre-dates WotC by a few years. However, I don't know the etymology of Thopter so I don't know whether WotC copyrighted Thopter or not. A bit of gray area that probably reauires more research.
Thopter was the most questionable of the questionble, which is why I chose that as the example. Obviously there's Spirit, Wolf, Goblin, etc.
Now words that are unquestionably WotC like Nevinyrral should be avoided.
This is more proxy territory, which is where the mods don't want the convo going I believe.
This discussion is fine. We prefer to avoid a lot of how-to because it can obviously be used for nefarious purposes.
I'm not sure whether those elements are enough to infringe on Wizards' copyright. I don't believe they do but obv. I'm not a lawyer. Someone could probably make an argument that they're derivative works based on Wizards' IP. What's interesting is that StarCityGames' tokens use similar formatting and have the Wizards copyright info and the phrase "Used with permission".
He's got a number of different listing for various token, emblems, and lands. There's a "No affiliation with Wizards of the Coast" on some of them. Hit him up on Facebook with this convo:
Me: So I'm curious how you use proper names that are obvious trademarks of Wizards (such as Kiora, Liliana, etc). How does "No affiliation with Wizards of the Coast" get you around any legal scuffles? Not trying to be a jerk - honestly curious. Other than that, love the art!
Him: Liliana,gideon, jace etc are all real life names. Like George, John ,Maria etc they don't have copyright on names
Me: How about "Eldrazi"?
Me: Still... I assume you put that note on there to help with the legal issues somehow or another
Him: Its just a word, dunno dude. There are over 10 token sellers and they all use them
Yeah... I've seen a few pics of those tokens and they appear to be printed on MTG foils. Not a fan.I think the "not affiliated with Wizards" note is to cover their butts but is not any sort of definitive legal statement.
You might be able to "get away" with words and pictures that are common things, cat, snake, spirit, etc. It starts to get a bit murky when you begin to use their IP (layouts, imagery, fonts, etc). Keeping things VERY generic would help to keep you out of trouble (I'm not a lawyer, just making assumptions).
Not to mention... who's art are you using on your tokens? Unless you are creating your own artwork, that gives you another set of problems. As an artist, I would hate it if someone used my work without asking. More-so if they were making money off of it.
Just to muddy the water more ornithoper may have been a round for a while by "thopter" seems pretty much a Wizards thing. My point being Android is common use but "Driod" is actually trademarked by lucasfilms. Most of the time it is ok to use TM material if you don't make money. Ultimately at it can come down to a judge/the courts. We opened a business call Frost Bite Frozen Yogurt. We got a Cease and Desist from from Frost Gelato. Talked to a lawyer (@ $300) and long story short he said we could try fighting them in court and we might win and we might loose, but since we were a new business it would probably cost us more to fight then to get a new signs, shirts etc.
That said, places like mtggoldfish.com obviously print their own tokens (https://www.mtggoldfish.com/shop/mtggoldfish). They're not using Wizards formatting, imagery, symbols, or fonts - but clearly have "Artifact Creature - Thopter... 1/1... Flying". I'm assuming they have no permission of any kind considering there's no Wizards TM note. I concede I'm unsure on this fact though. I take it because no stolen formatting, imagery, symbols, or fonts are used, this is kosher?
Thopter was the most questionable of the questionble, which is why I chose that as the example. Obviously there's Spirit, Wolf, Goblin, etc.
This is more proxy territory, which is where the mods don't want the convo going I believe.
I'm not sure whether those elements are enough to infringe on Wizards' copyright. I don't believe they do but obv. I'm not a lawyer. Someone could probably make an argument that they're derivative works based on Wizards' IP. What's interesting is that StarCityGames' tokens use similar formatting and have the Wizards copyright info and the phrase "Used with permission".
He's got a number of different listing for various token, emblems, and lands. There's a "No affiliation with Wizards of the Coast" on some of them. Hit him up on Facebook with this convo:
Not to mention... who's art are you using on your tokens? Unless you are creating your own artwork, that gives you another set of problems. As an artist, I would hate it if someone used my work without asking. More-so if they were making money off of it.
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