Re: 'hobbit' generic/scientific term now that should be used

On Thu, 07 Nov 2024 14:01:46 -0600, Zaghadka <zaghadka@hotmail.com>
wrote:

On Mon, 4 Nov 2024 07:07:35 -0000 (UTC), David Chmelik
<dchmelik@gmail.com> wrote:
>

There was no Balrog in 1e (it was a Type VI demon, ex: "Balor"), nor Ent
(it was Treeant), nor Nazgul.

If I recall, Treants and Balrog were mentioned in OD&D (and Chainmail)
but never the Nazgul. By the time AD&D/Basic rolled around, the real
Nazgul (which is to say, the Tolkien estate's lawyers) had convinced
TSR of the wrongness of this and the monster names were all either
changed or erased from the game.

But to some degree, it's understandable why TSR (and everyone else)
did this). Copyright was in a state of flux. Copyright law was changed
in 1976, greatly extending copyright term length. Prior to that,
copyright lengths varied from 28 to 56 years (depending on renewal),
so something released in 1937 could conceivably have been public
domain in 1977. If you weren't keeping track of these new laws -which
it is almost certain none of those amateur publishers were- their
confusion is almost forgivable.

(especially since in US law copyright was originally only for 14 to 28
years _total_ and that's probably what most laymen were taught in
school. Remember, before the Internet and Wikipedia, it was hard to
get up-to-date information on a topic if it wasn't central to your
interests/profession).

All the moreso since that same lack of communication often meant it
was hard for the IP owners to even LEARN that their IP was being
violated. But as it became easier for even small brands to go
cross-country (as it started doing in the sixties and seventies) it
also became easier for copyright holders to catch these scofflaws.

Add into that the fact that many of the terms and ideas used by
Tolkien were themselves based on older concepts most _definitely_ in
public domain, and it's no wonder Gygax and the rest thought it was
all in fair use.

So it was a mix of poor information, changing laws and a crackdown on
IP violations nationwide in the 1970s that got TSR (and many others)
into hot water. Had D&D released fifteen years earlier, they might
have gotten away with it. ;-)