JAN. 20, 2006 (RENTON, WASH.) – Wizards of the Coast, Inc., the world leader in hobby gaming and a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE: HAS), today filed suit in U.S. District Court in Washington against Wizards of the Coast, Inc., specifically the division responsible for the design and promotion of the widely popular table top game, Dungeons & Dragons®. The complaint alleges that the Dungeons & Dragons® division intentionally and repeatedly stole Wizards’ proprietary information from future sets of Wizards' world-famous Magic: The Gathering® Trading Card Game (TCG). Specifically alleged is the unauthorized use of creature types such as “Wizard”, “Elf”, “Zombie”, and “Flumph” along with various thematic and story elements.

“Wizards of the Coast was dismayed to learn our most confidential property was being preemptively plagiarized. To learn that Wizards employees were behind this blatant theft of intellectual property compounds the seriousness of these actions,” said Jared Gustafson, Director of Marketing at Wizards of the Coast. “The unauthorized reproduction of proprietary information harms the brand. I can’t tell you how many players send us emails asking things like, ‘When are you going to print any more decent goblins?‘ or ‘Can you make a spell that copies enchantments?’ For a long time we just thought that people were somehow psychically predicting the future sets. We had no idea that D&D was stealing all our ideas before we could even print them.”

When asked how Dungeons & Dragons®, first released in 1974 could have possibly stolen ideas from Magic: The Gathering®, released in 1993, Elaine Chase, Senior Brand Manager for Magic: The Gathering® at Wizards of the Coast replied, “The twenty year gap is irrelevant. We encourage fan enthusiasm by permitting the use of authorized information, but we cannot tolerate the unauthorized utilization of trademarks before the cards are even released. We spent months coming up with new and interesting creature types, like ‘Weird.’ Apparently, this didn’t stop that other game from stealing the fruits of our labor.”

Reactions from the Magic community have been mixed. Daron Rutter of Vancouver, British Columbia, an administrator of the website "MTG Salvation” who goes by the name Rancored_Elf, admitted his surprise. “If I had only known about this, what did you call it, Dungeons and Dragons, I would have had a much easier time writing my spoilers. Up until now I’ve relied only anonymous sources and my infinite play skill.” Another well known community member, referred to only as blisterguy stated, “Who cares. It’s not like anyone plays that game. Have you even heard the band ‘Strapping Young Men’?”

Legal experts are equally perplexed. “I’ve never heard of a corporation suing itself before,” remarked Jack Thompson, a lawyer based in Miami Florida, and widely regarded expert on everything. “This is unprecedented. In fact, I think I’ll sue myself too.”

Wizards of the Coast, Inc. lawyers refused to comment further, but industry insiders suspect that suits against the estates of authors J.R.R Tolkien and C.S. Lewis
will be soon to follow. “Wizards can’t ignore these infractions,” one analyst said. “The unauthorized use of trademarks, even in classic fantasy literature, is still theft.”

For more information on Magic: The Gathering®, visit MagicTheGathering.com.

Discuss this article in the Magic: the Gathering Forums!

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JAN. 20, 2006 (RENTON, WASH.) – Wizards of the Coast, Inc., the world leader in hobby gaming and a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE: HAS), today filed suit in U.S. District Court in Washington against Wizards of the Coast, Inc., specifically the division responsible for the design and promotion of the widely popular table top game, Dungeons & Dragons®. The complaint alleges that the Dungeons & Dragons® division intentionally and repeatedly stole Wizards’ proprietary information from future sets of Wizards' world-famous Magic: The Gathering® Trading Card Game (TCG). Specifically alleged is the unauthorized use of creature types such as “Wizard”, “Elf”, “Zombie”, and “Flumph” along with various thematic and story elements.

“Wizards of the Coast was dismayed to learn our most confidential property was being preemptively plagiarized. To learn that Wizards employees were behind this blatant theft of intellectual property compounds the seriousness of these actions,” said Jared Gustafson, Director of Marketing at Wizards of the Coast. “The unauthorized reproduction of proprietary information harms the brand. I can’t tell you how many players send us emails asking things like, ‘When are you going to print any more decent goblins?‘ or ‘Can you make a spell that copies enchantments?’ For a long time we just thought that people were somehow psychically predicting the future sets. We had no idea that D&D was stealing all our ideas before we could even print them.”

When asked how Dungeons & Dragons®, first released in 1974 could have possibly stolen ideas from Magic: The Gathering®, released in 1993, Elaine Chase, Senior Brand Manager for Magic: The Gathering® at Wizards of the Coast replied, “The twenty year gap is irrelevant. We encourage fan enthusiasm by permitting the use of authorized information, but we cannot tolerate the unauthorized utilization of trademarks before the cards are even released. We spent months coming up with new and interesting creature types, like ‘Weird.’ Apparently, this didn’t stop that other game from stealing the fruits of our labor.”

Reactions from the Magic community have been mixed. Daron Rutter of Vancouver, British Columbia, an administrator of the website "MTG Salvation” who goes by the name Rancored_Elf, admitted his surprise. “If I had only known about this, what did you call it, Dungeons and Dragons, I would have had a much easier time writing my spoilers. Up until now I’ve relied only anonymous sources and my infinite play skill.” Another well known community member, referred to only as blisterguy stated, “Who cares. It’s not like anyone plays that game. Have you even heard the band ‘Strapping Young Men’?”

Legal experts are equally perplexed. “I’ve never heard of a corporation suing itself before,” remarked Jack Thompson, a lawyer based in Miami Florida, and widely regarded expert on everything. “This is unprecedented. In fact, I think I’ll sue myself too.”

Wizards of the Coast, Inc. lawyers refused to comment further, but industry insiders suspect that suits against the estates of authors J.R.R Tolkien and C.S. Lewis
will be soon to follow. “Wizards can’t ignore these infractions,” one analyst said. “The unauthorized use of trademarks, even in classic fantasy literature, is still theft.”

For more information on Magic: The Gathering®, visit MagicTheGathering.com.

Discuss this article in the Magic: the Gathering Forums!

Related Stories

• Cottonelle Threatens to Sue Wizards of the Coast
• Wizards Lose Landmark Legal Battle
• Spike Lee Wins Injunction Against Psychatog
• Discrimination Suit Against Wizards Filed; Intellectuals, Politicians Outrage
• DCI Unable to Prevent Hahn Articles