Dungeons & Dragons publisher Wizards of the Coast files a preliminary injunction against TSR LLC in a bid to prevent the release of its upcoming game.
Wizards of the Coast's motion for a preliminary injunction, noted for consideration on Sept. 30, 2022, was filed in the United States District Court in Seattle, Washington. The motion was shared on Sept. 9 by Twitter user David Flor, along with NoHateInGaming, both of which posted excerpts from the preliminary injunction laying out the specific issues which Wizards of the Coast has cited against TSR, as well as attempts to actively conceal information by the latter. The suit comes counter to an earlier one filed against Wizards of the Coast by TSR, which was voluntarily dismissed in Dec. 2021.
TSR Inc. was originally founded as Tactical Studies Rules in Oct. 1973 by Gary Gygax and Don Kaye, who were later joined by Brian Blume, as a publisher for Dave Arneson and Gygax's original tabletop role-playing game, Dungeons & Dragons. TSR was the publisher of Dungeons & Dragons from its inception until the company was purchased by Wizards of the Coast in 1997, when it was on the brink of insolvency.
Wizards of the Coast, who had dropped the TSR label from its games in 2000, allowed for the trademark to expire in the early 2000s. Since then, two companies have utilized the TSR trademark, most recently that run by Ernie Gygax, Justin LaNasa, and Stephen Dinehart. This version of the company that followed was owned by Jayson Elliot, co-founder of the Roll for Initiative podcast, who acquired the trademark in 2011. Elliot's ownership of the trademark lapsed in 2020 and he eventually terminated his relationship with the new TSR after Ernie Gygax's "troubling comments about race, gender identity, and gun violence, as well as his company's reaction."
LaNasa and Dinehart's previous attempts to reboot the classic Star Frontiers franchise were complicated by Wizards of the Coast still owning all properties formerly owned by TSR despite no longer owning the trademark to the company itself. This resulted in TSR launching a successful crowdfunding campaign to finance the original suit against Wizards of the Coast. After the first suit was dismissed, Wizards of the Coast announced it would file a countersuit, while LaNasa promised to refile the original.
Apart from the copyright issues, Wizards of the Coast's suit against TSR points out disparaging racial and ethnic stereotypes outlined by internal Star Frontiers New Genesis documents, for which it has "move[d] to enjoin publication or further distribution of" on the grounds that "Wizards would be irreparably harmed... because consumers may mistakenly associate Wizards with the reprehensible content of the game, damaging its reputation and goodwill and undermining its efforts to foster a culture that embraces diversity around its games."
The Beta manuscript for Star Frontiers New Genesis included a notice by TSR that "This is not to be given, released and handed to anyone associated with Wizard[s] of the Coast, Hasbro," which implies TSR had some understanding of the potential legal fallout caused by publication of the game.
Neither TSR nor Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro have made any official statements regarding the latest suit at this time.
Source: Twitter