Black Knight Games’ IP (Intellectual Property) Policy

1. Introduction
This document sets out our policy towards unauthorized and unlicensed use of our copyright imagery and trade marks by fans of our games as part of their hobby, rather than commercial gain. It is addressed primarily to those who want to exchange news, information, 'house' rules, and so on via the Internet in general and the World Wide Web in particular. These basic principles apply equally well to other hobby activities, for example, fanzine publications. We receive countless requests on a daily basis from gamers from all corners of the globe who are asking to use our intellectual property in a multitude of ways. Because we cannot reply to everyone personally, the following FAQ has been compiled to guide you through what you can and cannot do  in relation to our intellectual property.

It is important that you realize that:
- Black Knight Games reserves the right to change this policy without notice.
- The contents of this policy are in no way meant or intended to be a license of any nature.
- That most uses of our intellectual property without a license are likely to be an infringement; however, Black Knight Games is unlikely to object to any infringement if it adheres to this policy.
Please also note that we reserve the right at any time and without notice to insist that you cease or alter your use of our IP. We reserve this right so we can comply with any licenses that we have with third parties.

Definition of Intellectual Property
IP stands for "intellectual property." It's intellectual (as opposed to tangible/physical) because it deals with concepts and creations of the mind that you can't actually touch. It is property, because it can be bought and sold, transferred from one person to another - just like any other property. For example, if I sculpt a model, I can sell the physical object (the miniature itself) to one person AND still retain the right to reproduce it (the copyright).

For the purposes of this document, we're concerned with two main areas of intellectual property - copyright (the right to copy a work) and trade marks - the names, badges, logos, or signs used to distinguish one company's products from another's.

Why do we need an IP policy at all?
The reason we need a policy for IP is actually quite straightforward. The laws that govern intellectual property are such that we have to make a visible effort to actively police and protect our rights or risk losing them, and if we lose control of our IP rights then we lose the ability to create the cool, high-quality games that we are famous for.
The unauthorized use of someone else's intellectual property (whether it be by an individual or a company) is both dishonest and against the law. It is, quite simply, theft.
We are proud of our creations and understandably protective of our rights and we are no more prepared to let others profit unfairly from the results of our efforts than you would be to let someone help themselves to the contents of your home. This is why we have always sought and will continue to seek to prevent any unauthorized use of our IP, if necessary by legal action, if it does not comply with the IP policy set out here.

So how does the IP Policy fit into all this?
One of the aims of this policy document is to give you a set of guidelines on what you can and cannot do with Black Knight Games' trademarks and copyright. Adhere to them, and everything should be fine - you get to do what you want, and we get to keep our intellectual property.

Important Note:
Even if you follow all the guidelines, we can't promise not to object to some or all of your web site, fanzine, or whatever. We always reserve the right to take action, without notice, if we feel it's necessary to do so. In legal terms, this document is not a waiver of our rights, nor a license of them.

It would be helpful if you could check this policy document every so often (perhaps once a month or so) to see if there have been any changes to it. Circumstances and laws do change over time, and we need to adapt our policy accordingly. As with everything else on this document, if you're unsure about any changes, then let us know.

Pirating / File Sharing
Pirating software is a crime in most countries worldwide. In addition to the other penalties, you can go to prison for pirating. The same is true of file sharing - if you have not paid for the material and you download it using peer-to-peer software or get a copy from someone other than Black Knight Games or one of our registered dealers, you are engaging in illegal activity. The same is true even if you already own a copy of the relevant product. Black Knight Games takes measures to ensure the authenticity of any electronic file we produce, but some folks are very clever and can find ways to overcome our efforts. This is an unfortunate, but ultimately inevitable truth about the electronic age and results in negative effects on honest gamers.

BE AWARE that we are willing spend money to bring prosecute pirates and counterfeiters to the fullest extent of the law.

What you can and can't do with Black Knight Games’ intellectual property
Unlike many companies, here at Black Knight Games we usually only stop people from using our intellectual property if we must do so in order to protect it (provided that use is by and for hobbyists). For example, the law requires us to protect our trademarks in certain ways - and if we do not - we might lose them. Can you image how awful it would be if BKG lost rights to its own logo or the like?

Black Knight Games is a game company dedicated to the gamer however, so we want people to enjoy our IP as much as we do. For example, we encourage you to convert our miniatures and use your own house rules. We believe that this is a fundamental part of the miniatures wargame hobby.

Accordingly, you can do quite a lot of things with our intellectual property without having a formal license with us (see the Specific Examples section below for more details on what you can do with our intellectual property), but there are also some general principles that you need to keep in mind, and then there are the things that you definitely cannot do.

PLEASE NOTE that any work you create using our intellectual property is not "owned" by you. It is called a "derivative work" and those parts based upon our IP do not give rise to their own copyright. Please bear this in mind when using our IP.

General Principles

- Please make it clear that your use is unofficial by including some wording to the effect that, for example, "This website is completely unofficial and in no way endorsed by Black Knight Games." Are people likely to be confused as to whether your web site or any material was produced by Black Knight Games just by looking at it? If so, then you need to alter it. In other words, do not try to make your material look "official."

- Please do not change our trademarks in any way (e.g., stretch or deform them)

- Include an appropriate disclaimer on your web site from the list on the following webpage

- Please make the origins of the intellectual property very clear, in other words, make sure that from a brief review of your material people know that you are unofficially using Black Knight Games’ intellectual property (and not your own IP or the IP of a third party).

WHAT YOU CANNOT DO WITH BLACK KNIGHT GAMES’ INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Please read the following in conjunction with the What you can do section above and the Specific Examples section below. Other than a few exemptions, Black Knight Games is not obliged to let anyone use its IP at all (for example, it's a widely held misconception that you can freely make use of someone else's copyrights, without their permission, as long as it's for your own private use - this is currently not an automatic exemption to copyright), and accordingly we always insist that our IP is treated with the respect that we feel that it deserves.

So, if you are using or want to use our intellectual property and you do not have a written license with us, you must not:

- Use Black Knight Games’ intellectual property in relation to any commercial activity ¬ this includes, for example, paying a printer to print some flyers for you, obtaining sponsorship, or selling non-Black Knight Games materials using our trademarks.

- Make any direct copies and/or scans of Black Knight Games publications, images, or other materials. This includes any Out-of-Production materials, web site materials, and articles from our Web site, wiki, blog or any type of printed or electronic materials and articles. We would however suggest that you produce your own materials (as long as you follow the other requirements of this policy). In other words, you may build upon our IP for your own use much in the same way that you might convert one of our miniatures.

- Use our trademarks in respect of your domain name.

- Use our intellectual property in relation to any third party products or third party intellectual property.

- Alter our trademarks in any way.

- Use any of our IP without appropriately crediting the IP and using the appropriate disclaimers in accordance with this policy (see below).

- Create, distribute, or use any material that is not consistent with the functionality, atmosphere, and parameters of the Legend universe as created and owned by Black Knight Games.

- State that anything that you create using Black Knight Games’ intellectual property is "official."

- Create, distribute, or use any material that is derogatory, obscene, or offensive.

- Create, distribute, or use any material that devalues any Black Knight Games product in any way.

SPECIFIC EXAMPLES
In addition to the above rules, we have additional rules for specific uses of our IP. The following is a definitive list of activities and uses that Black Knight Games will usually not take active steps to prevent. If your proposed use is not on the list, it is highly likely that we will not permit it. This list may change from time to time so please check it regularly.

Web Sites
Please don't use one of our trademarks to directly identify your web sit (e.g., "The Space Hulk Home Page"). This right is reserved for Black Knight Games companies and formal licensees only.
This doesn't mean that you can't use our trademarks to talk about our stuff, it just means you need to make it clear that description is the reason why you are using them (e.g., "Knights of Empey” - my web page dedicated to Black Knight Games’ Fantasy Legend™ game") is fine because you're using our trademarks to simply describe what your web page is about and because it identifies us as the publishers of the game.

Also, please do not use any material from the official Black Knight Games websites. Instead, we suggest that you make your own.

Web Names
Please don't use one of our registered trademarks as part of your web domain name. This right is reserved for Black Knight Games companies and formal licensees only.

Educational Use
Unfortunately, we currently cannot give official "permission" for students to use our IP in relation to their studies for reasons of possible licensing conflicts. Unofficial permission would be governed by the remainder of this document and the specific use of the IP. We would point you in the direction of the "fair use" rules in relation to copyright protected materials and research/educational usage. Be aware that there is not an equivalent doctrine for trademark usage.

Maps
We would ask you not to take direct scans or copies of our maps unless we specify that the map is available for you to do so (usually in the form of a downloadable map file). We suggest that you create your own equivalents. Again, please avoid reproducing our trademarks.

Making Terrain
If you simply make the terrain for yourself and you have no intention of selling it, any use of our IP in relation to your terrain will probably be okay. Do not reproduce our trademarks. However, as always, you cannot use our intellectual property in relation to a commercial activity - if you make and sell terrain, please avoid using any Black Knight Games intellectual property in or in relation to that terrain. For example, do not sell it on Ebay as "Fantasy Legend terrain," as it is not Fantasy Legend terrain. Indeed, only Black Knight Games could produce Fantasy Legend Terrain.

Bandwidth Theft and Mirroring Resources
We do not tolerate deep linking to the pictures, images, PDFs or other downloads on our website. Such activity is bandwidth theft. Also, do not mirror the resources that we have on our websites. So, if you want other people to see the materials that we have produced, please use a simple HTML link to the relevant web page.

Themes
While we are likely to be happy for you to create your own desktop themes based upon our IP, please do not use our trademarks in those themes. In other words, do not use our logos and symbols, but please do draw your own version of a N’Tal or Sea Elf.

Photos of Painted Models
We encourage fellow hobbyists to show off their painting skills by taking photos of their miniatures and putting them on their site. Please remember to correctly credit the IP - "miniature © Black Knight Games 1998-2009. All rights reserved. Used without permission - model painted by "person's name".

Background
Background text is a major part of the gaming hobby and writing your own is almost as much fun as reading it. Please remember to use the correct trademark disclaimer somewhere on your site, zip file and/or document. We would also ask that at the top of the material you state something equivalent to the following: "The Monkey Mountains" an unofficial story by B. Smith derived, without permission, upon the Galactic Legend intellectual property owned by Black Knight Games." Please note that we consider any background material you write to be a work which is derivative of our intellectual property. As such, you should refrain from putting any notice claiming that anyone other than Black Knight Games has any right over Black Knight Games-owned intellectual property or derivatives thereof.

House Rules
We encourage fellow gamers to invent rules that work for them. There is no need to stick precisely to the published rules. However, if you are thinking about making your own supplement for your Verminion army (in addition to following the other guidelines in this policy), please avoid making it look official as this may confuse gamers and amount to a challenge to our trademarks. Also, do not copy our official publications or documents.

Conversions
Conversions are a major aspect of the hobby, although in intellectual property terms, they also constitute a major infringement. However, we are certainly not about to stop people making cool conversions of our products, although, there are certain things to keep in mind:

 - Please do not combine our intellectual properties with IP owned by any third parties.

 - Your conversions should be one-time, unique masterpieces of hobby goodness. Do not create a production run of conversions for sale.

Casting
Do not cast any materials that are based upon Black Knight Games material. Black Knight Games has to maintain a strict policy on this to fight counterfeiters. We would also remind you that reproduction for personal use is NOT an automatic exclusion in respect of copyright protection in many territories worldwide.

Unreleased Material
While we know that it is always cool to see new material before it arrives on the shelves, we would ask you not to publish, or link to other sites that publish, any material that has not been officially reported or released by Black Knight Games. This does not apply to small pieces of conjecture written in your "rumors" section (unless of course said "rumors" are akin to publishing unreleased material).

Forums
We have no problem with people using forums to express their love (or even hate) of the hobby. We would, however, ask people to bear in mind that the hobby is for people all ages. Please be careful of the language used and the topics discussed. Treat your input as though you were speaking to a minor. We would also strongly recommend that you avoid any discussion of illegal behavior.

Movies
We appreciate that hobbyists may even want to make movies based upon our intellectual property. Unfortunately, due to the nuances of the law in some territories, we cannot allow any unlicensed movies to be created which are based upon our intellectual property.

Modifications, Total Conversions, and Games
We want people to express their enjoyment of our games with as little interference from us as possible, as long as they behave reasonably with our IP and follow any reasonable requests that we may make. We are not inherently opposed to hobbyists creating games or modifications using our IP, in fact we are flattered that people want to spend so much time creating games and modifications in the Black Knight Games universes.

If you want to make a game, total conversion or a modification using our IP you must adhere to the following (in addition to the general principles as outlined above):
Any game or mod must be a "total conversion." In other words, you must not use our intellectual property (logos, images, names etc.) in relation to the worlds, names, logos, or images of any other company.
Please bear in mind that we may require you to remove the game or modification from any public forum at any time so that we can comply with any licenses that we may have with computer game publishers/developers. Be aware that we may even have to insist that the modification be destroyed. Please take very careful note of this statement, as we would not want you to feel unfairly treated at a later date.

The game or modification must be strictly non-commercial - this includes any web site that the modification or game is hosted on. You also cannot pay a printing company to publish copies of it onto CD. It may also mean that you cannot get sponsorship.

It must be made clear on any readme files, splash/intro screens and accompanying material that the game or modification is unofficial and the origins of the intellectual property must be made obvious (e.g., your modification might say "Gound Pounders,¬ a total conversion for XXXX (insert game name) using intellectual property owned by Black Knight Games. Used without permission...etc." See the relevant disclaimer below.).

The game or modification must not devalue any Black Knight Games product in any way.
Any distribution (zipped or otherwise) of the whole, or any part, of the modification or game must be accompanied with the appropriate disclaimers and must also follow these guidelines.
The functionality, atmosphere, and parameters of any modification or game must be consistent with the relevant IP.

Skins
Unfortunately, Black Knight Games cannot allow thirds parties to use our IP without properly crediting our ownership. It is not possible to credit ownership with skins and accordingly we do not allow their creation.

Online Auctions

- Do not use our trademarks in relation to products that are not owned by or originate from Black Knight Games (see Making Terrain above).

- Do not associate our products or IP with any third party products or IP.

- We would encourage you to use digital photographs of any materials that you are planning on selling. Do not use any materials from any Black Knight Games website to sell the product.

Café Press
We cannot allow users to make and or sell derivatives of our copyright protected material or our trademarks on the café press or any similar websites.

Web Comics
We would probably not take issue with anyone creating a web comic based upon our intellectual property - but as with forums, keep in mind that the hobby is for people of all ages. Please be careful of the language used and the topics discussed. We would strongly recommend that you avoid any topics concerning illegal behavior, obscenity, or libel. If you have questions or wish to find out about what we would or would not deem acceptable, you can contact us at editor@black-knight-games-online.com. We will be happy to help.

Fonts
Unfortunately, Black Knight Games cannot allow third parties to use our trademarks without properly crediting our ownership, lest they be damaged. With fonts, it is difficult, if not impossible, to use the marks and credit Black Knight Games as rightful owners. Accordingly, do not use our IP in relation to fonts.

Screen Savers
As is the case with fonts, Black Knight Games cannot allow third parties to use our trademarks without properly crediting our ownership, lest they be damaged. You may only create screen savers if it properly credits our IP. We would also remind you that you cannot alter or change our trademarks in any way.

Animations
We would probably not have a problem with anyone creating animations based upon our intellectual property - as long as there is no commercial connection to that creation. Again, please be careful of the language used and the topics discussed.

Club Names and Trademarks
We actively encourage hobbyists to begin their own clubs connected with the hobby. In fact, in some territories, we may have an employee or sanctioned “evangelist” tasked with helping people set up and run their clubs. However, we would advise anyone with a club or starting a club to avoid directly using our trademarks (do not, for example call the club, "The Fantasy Legend Club"). Instead, create your own names, such as "The South Side Gamers”, "RPG Guild," or other, more creative names than these examples.

Fanzines
Fanzines are a great way to immerse yourself in the hobby. However, if you are thinking about starting a fanzine, please do not use our trademarks. Again, we would remind you that the main principles set out at the head of this page apply to fanzines, as they do to all of the specific examples herein. Importantly, if you are creating a solely Black Knight Games-focused fanzine, do not sell your fanzine and do not obtain any sponsorship.

Out-of-Print Material
Please do not scan, copy, or republish any out-of-print (OOP) materials. It may be that in the future we reuse or license out the use of this material.

Out of Production Games
There are three good reasons why we cannot allow this - one of which is simply that it will necessarily make use of our copyright in ways that are not permitted anywhere else in this document. Secondly, providing a system for playing the game on the internet effectively means that you could play the game without having ever bought it originally, which therefore devalues Black Knight Games products as outlined above. Finally, as with Fantasy Legend, it may be that we decide to revisit some of these games at some time in the future to create a better, updated version for all.

Avatars
Avatars and similar monikers are now commonplace on nearly every forum or chat program that you come across. As cool as they may be, they can cause problems if the use our trademarks since we need to maintain the distinctiveness of our trademarks in relation to their origin.
If you want to use avatars and similar monikers, create them yourself and credit the origins of the IP in your message sign off.

T-shirts, Clothes, Tatoos and the Like
As always, we cannot allow third parties to obtain money from our intellectual property.
This effectively means that you would either have to buy Black Knight Games T-shirts or clothes or make them yourself. You would not be able to sell any t-shirts or clothes that you make.
This also means that we cannot allow tattoos as an acceptable use of our IP as a third party necessarily has to perform the "service."

Costume Play / Live Role-Play (LRP)
There are fans out there that love our game worlds so much that they may want to make costumes so as to bring them to life even more. To this end, this section does not contain special rules for costumes or live role-play - it is only to say that provided you comply with all the contents of this policy, it is something we are unlikely to object to.

Cardboard or Paper Conversions
Unfortunately, we cannot allow the printing or publishing of such conversions- such action devalues existing Black Knight Games products.

Special Figures
If you have a web site or gaming club and you want to create something special for that club, it will have to be handmade. You cannot pay third parties to produce any materials using our intellectual property, and "using" is very broadly defined. Also, you should not make a production run of such materials.

Painting Services
We often get e-mails from hobbyists regarding our position on providing painting services for third parties. As always, we do not allow third parties to make money from our IP. Accordingly, any "painting service" must be entirely generic, i.e., it cannot state that it is a Black Knight Games, Metal Gems painting service. The service must not be based on the intellectual property, i.e., using the intellectual property (images, trademarks etc.) to "sell" itself. Nor must you exclusively paint Black Knight Games’ miniatures. The same would be true of any painting companion or guide - you must not make money from Black Knight Games intellectual property without a license.

Model Conversion Kits
We do not allow unlicensed third parties to manufacture or produce conversion kits for our models. We need to be able to control our products and all derivatives thereto in order that we produce quality products for years to come.

E-mail Lists
Placing scans or copies of any Black Knight Games material on an e-mail list or news group is a violation of our rights and amounts to a serious infringement. Please do not participate in this activity, and if you are aware of it, please write to the legal department on the following email address: editor@black-knight-games-online.com

Thank you very much for your compliance with the above policies. We know that there is a lot here and appreciate that you have taken the time to read it all.



Copyright and Legal Information
Below you will find information about Black Knight Games’ Copyrights and Trademarks. If you are interested in using Black Knight Games’ images and logos on your own web site, we have something you should read first:

COPYRIGHTS AND TRADEMARKS
Last updated: 26 May, 2010

COPYRIGHTS
All artwork and logos on this site and all the images contained therein have been produced either in-house or as work for hire. The exclusive copyright in the logos and artwork, including the images it depicts, is the property of Black Knight Games © Copyright Black Knight Games 1998-2010. All rights reserved.

TRADEMARK INFORMATION
Verminion, Gar, N’Tak, N’Tal, Faldor, Metal Gems, Great Northern Continent, Dragons Teeth Pass, Inn of the Red Rooster, Bloodstone, Springbow, Hornblade, Fantasy Legend, Galactic Legend, Legend RPG, Legend Game System, Black Knight Games logo, Fantasy Legend logo, Galactic Legend logo, Legend RPG logo, Empey, Trimbol Bardlin, Black Knight Publishing, Black Knight Press, the Great Seal of Empey, White Monolith, Tech-Mage, Galien Ranger, Tumuli, and all associated marks, names, races, race insignia, characters, vehicles, locations, units, illustrations and images from the Legend game system or Black Knight Games are either ®, TM and/or © Copyright Black Knight Games 1998-2010, variably registered in the US and other countries around the world. All Rights Reserved

If you have any queries, please contact the Black Knight Games legal department at:
Black Knight Games
1690 Kestrel Lane
Blue Mounds, WI
53517
United States of America

Disclaimer and Trademark List
Please use this disclaimer and place it on your site.

Disclaimer
This web site is completely unofficial and in no way endorsed by Black Knight Games.
Verminion, Gar, N’Tak, N’Tal, Faldor, Metal Gems, Great Northern Continent, Dragons Teeth Pass, Inn of the Red Rooster, Bloodstone, Springbow, Hornblade, Fantasy Legend, Galactic Legend, Legend RPG, Legend Game System, Black Knight Games logo, Fantasy Legend logo, Galactic Legend logo, Legend RPG logo, Empey, Trimbol Bardlin, Black Knight Publishing, Black Knight Press, the Great Seal of Empey, White Monolith, and all associated marks, names, races, race insignia, characters, vehicles, locations, units, illustrations and images from the Legend game system or Black Knight Games are either ®, TM and/or © Copyright Black Knight Games 1998-2010, variably registered in the US and other countries around the world. All Rights Reserved Used without permission. No challenge to their status intended. All Rights Reserved to their respective owners.