Harn and Columbia Games

[Valamir]

Well, theres a big thread on RPG.net (as well as the Harn forums) about disputes between the Publisher of Harn (Columbia Games) and the Creator of Harn (Robin Crossby).

Regardless of who's right or wrong, the thread is just one big giant case study in why Creator Owned publishing is the way to go.

Be indie, stay indie, and you'll never need lawyers to arbitrate the future of your product with anyone.  Or, sell, get out and put it behind you.  But "sharing ownership"...well, read the thread and determine for yourself how fun Shared Ownership sounds.

[greyorm]

Ralph, I know I'm being lazy...but could you provide a link directly to the thread? (and save me the two minutes of search time)

[Valamir]

The RPG.net thread with a copy of Robin Crossby's open letter (the first post) is here.

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=60750&highlight=Harn

The thread on the Harn site where Tom D basically says Robin is living in a fantasy world and doesn't have the authority to do this and suggests suits holding Robin liable for damage to Columbia's business as a result of Robin taking this public seemingly has been pulled as it now returns only an error message.

Now Robin's has had about as much involvement with Harn in the last decade as Gary Gygax had with D&D 2nd Edition...which is to say not much outside of being acknowledged as the creator.  Pretty much every Harn Product since HarnMaster in the mid 90s has been a Columbia Games creation or freelancers hired by Columbia.

Now apparently Robin wants control back and believes there is a termination clause in his agreement with Columbia that allows him to simply write a termination letter and get 100% complete ownership of all branded Harn product (with the exception of current inventory).  CG, having spent the last two decades spending their own money on building up Harn has a different opinion on who owns what when termination happens.

Not having access to the contract obviously we'll have no way of knowing whose right even after lawyers settle things (since terms of such settlement are usually confidential)...but a valuable lesson to game designers none-the-less.

[HinterWelt]

Actually, the post from CGI is back up. I have to agree with other RPG.Net posters though, this whole affair make both parties look petty and childish. I personally believe Crossby did the first bad by posting. Legal matters should not be resolved in that manner.
Just my opinion,
Bill

http://www.harnforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=2451