Printing Digital RPG Materials

Started by Bison, January 13, 2017, 08:05:56 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Bison

Has anyone ever printed materials from DriveThru RPG or DM Guild through Lulu or a similar site? 

I'm wondering about the legality and costs.  I'd like to print a soft cover of the 1st ed. PHB and UA for use at the table.  (My kids will play and know about OD&D and 1st e. D&D, because for all of the warts and issues I want to share that with them.)

bayonetbrant

Quote from: Bison on January 13, 2017, 08:05:56 AM
Has anyone ever printed materials from DriveThru RPG or DM Guild through Lulu or a similar site? 

I'm wondering about the legality and costs.  I'd like to print a soft cover of the 1st ed. PHB and UA for use at the table.  (My kids will play and know about OD&D and 1st e. D&D, because for all of the warts and issues I want to share that with them.)

Everything on DTRPG is legal.

The cards I got over the holidays were excellent.  They were only packaged in a clear plastic case, so no fancy 'tuck box' or anything, but the cards themselves are nice.

I'm on a FB group with some other Mystara fans, and they've been picking up the reprints of old BECMI modules & sourcebooks and have all been impressed by the print quality.  (I haven't ordered any of those because...  well, I've got the originals O0 )
The key to surviving this site is to not say something which ends up as someone's tag line - Steelgrave

"their citizens (all of them counted as such) glorified their mythology of 'rights'...and lost track of their duties. No nation, so constituted, can endure." Robert Heinlein, Starship Troopers

Nefaro

I think Bison is asking whether it's okay to send his purchased DTRPG docs to a different printing business and have them print them out for him.

While I'm sure printing them out for personal use is just fine I have to wonder whether sending digital copies of them to other people, even for them to print for you, could be a potential issue.

This type of stuff is often tagged with, "right to copy/print for personal use" but if there could be specifics about sending digital copies to anyone else.  *shrug*

Dunno.  Friggin' IP, Copyright, and distribution agreements are just a pain in the ass these days.

Bison

Yeah that's really the question Nef.  I know you can do some printing through DriveThru, but the D&D materials are only available in a PDF version.  I've only seen discussions at various RPG forums that discuss the issue.  There is no formal answer that I've seen at DriveThru or at Wizard's site.  Of course WotC shows their asinine distain for direct communication with their fan base through any sort of official forums, which is another topic all together but frankly makes me wonder why I support them and their products some days.

Anyway...I've seen discussion where people say you cannot do it because of copyright issues and then in the same discussion people have used Lulu and a "private" option to produce paper copies.  I just want to play the game with physical book something or other.  I do own some 1ed and BXCMI material, but some is in pristine condition while other material like my UA is falling apart.  To be fair that book fell apart within a month of purchasing it 30 years ago.  I might just find some good deals online and buy some original books again. 

bayonetbrant

If you take the PDF to Kinko's FedEx Office (that still sounds weird, 10 years later) then you can use the self-serve copiers to print your own.  Just ask the staff to put the 3-hole-drilled paper in there for you and then print it yourself.

As long as you're doing it yourself, they won't bother you.  If you ask them to do it, they may not.  It's not an issue of copyright law; they are more restrictive in their own policies than the law is, to ensure no one accidentally strays into forbidden territory.
The key to surviving this site is to not say something which ends up as someone's tag line - Steelgrave

"their citizens (all of them counted as such) glorified their mythology of 'rights'...and lost track of their duties. No nation, so constituted, can endure." Robert Heinlein, Starship Troopers

Bison

I've thought of going to something like FedEx or Staples.  Honestly if WotC were smart they would just add a damned print on demand feature to the DM Guild. 

Nefaro

Quote from: Bison on January 13, 2017, 03:04:04 PM
I've thought of going to something like FedEx or Staples.  Honestly if WotC were smart they would just add a damned print on demand feature to the DM Guild.


I've been thankful for some of DTRPG's Print On Demand offerings. 

I still require physical copies.  Quite alright with them being a bit pricier and/or lower quality than normal high quality RPG hardbacks... if I can still get them after out of print (or if they were never so).   

Just can't help but think that the overall price, between purchasing a PDF and printing them off yourself, would be as high or higher than PoD offerings.  Yet they'll still be lower quality. 



There are too many good RPGs available out there in physical format, and sometimes at a great value, for me to bother with doing this kind of thing for those that are not.  So I haven't done it.