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TSR Lawsuits (UPDATED Now with 100% more lawsuits)
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Nogrod
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Post Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2012 1:46 pm 
 

I don't know if the have been posted/discussed before, but for those interested in TSR's legal disputes I posted three Court PDF's from Lexus Nexus at my unread and rarely updated blog. I read through them this morning and they are interesting in regards to royalties and payments to D. Arneson for the Monster Manual and the dispute with Mayfair Games.

If TSR minutia and history interest you then take a peek.

http://nogrod.net/?p=354


Zach

UPDATE: More lawsuits, including a real interesting one on the Blume Brothers at the address below. I have 2 more that I need to read first, one a complicated Tax Court filing that shows some internal TSR numbers on wages and expenses from 1977-1983.

http://nogrod.net/and-more-legal-cases-involving-tsr/

Zach


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Last edited by Nogrod on Mon Jul 30, 2012 9:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
  

Echohawk
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Post Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2012 2:01 am 
 

Thanks for those Zach, I am enjoying reading through them. This bit from the Mayfair Games document made me giggle:
Although the Agreement characterized that form as an "oval," its physical depiction in P. Ex. 1 Ex. B is that of an oblong cartouche drawn to appear three-dimensional. It seems that the parties are better developers of games than they are lexicographers. This opinion will use "cartouche" rather than "oval" to refer to the emblem.
  

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Agent Cooper
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Post Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2012 11:48 am 
 

These are very interesting to read.  A bit of real insight into gaming history.

What stood out for me, if I'm reading the record correctly, was the revelation that Mr. Arneson's suit against TSR demanding royalties from Advanced D&D was a resounding slam dunk.  (Summary Judgement.)

Sans any reliable account I'd always imagined that their dispute was played out in a long, drawn out court battle.  From this, it looks to me, that was not the case.


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misterspock
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Post Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2012 10:04 pm 
 

Thanks for posting the additional ones. So far I've read the Niebling one and it's very interesting, but really infuriating. I'm glad he stood his ground, because that seemed really underhanded.
  

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Nogrod
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Post Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2012 11:31 pm 
 

misterspock wrote:Thanks for posting the additional ones. So far I've read the Niebling one and it's very interesting, but really infuriating. I'm glad he stood his ground, because that seemed really underhanded.


Towards the end there is a point where it seems Kevin B. threw his wife under the bus. The court document on this case would be hilarious as to the awful bumbling, we're it not for what they tried to do to Mr. Niebling. If I lived near the court I would submit an open records request just to read the testimony.


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copycat
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Post Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2012 12:45 pm 
 

If it exists, I'd love to see the one against GDW. Up to the point of it being settled out of court, anyway...


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Alexander
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Post Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2012 1:18 pm 
 

These lawsuits will make a great article  8)
  

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FormCritic
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Post Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2012 4:33 am 
 

The TSR/Mayfield dispute makes interesting reading.

Niebling's lawsuit against TSR and the Blumes puts them in a bad light.  It is a lesson to gaming people to always do the legal work before there is any money involved and people turn evil.


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beasterbrook
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Post Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2012 8:21 pm 
 

FormCritic wrote:
Niebling's lawsuit against TSR and the Blumes puts them in a bad light.  It is a lesson to gaming people to always do the legal work before there is any money involved and people turn evil.


That one was a good read

Brette:)


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