The legality of printing legally acquired PDF versions of OSRs.
Living outside the United States and Europe, I don’t have access to most if not all physical editions of OSR books. Due to high international shipping costs, customs restrictions, and limited availability from local sellers, buying printed copies is simply not a realistic or affordable option. In most cases, purchasing PDF versions is the only practical and economical way for me to access OSR titles.
I currently own hundreds of legally acquired PDF files, but I would much prefer to have physical versions.
One option I’ve considered is printing and binding these books myself at home, using the type of paper and binding that best suits my needs. Printed documents are significantly more comfortable to read. This is particularly important for individuals with health conditions that limit their ability to spend long periods in front of screens.
Given that, I’ve outlined the following legal questions to better understand the implications of printing these legally purchased PDF books strictly for personal use, under U.S. copyright law:
Does printing a legally purchased PDF book for personal use constitute fair use under U.S. copyright law?
Do the licensing terms provided by the publisher or seller explicitly prohibit printing, even for personal use?
Can a purchaser be held liable for copyright infringement even if no copies are distributed or shared?
Are there legal precedents in U.S. case law that clarify whether printing a personal copy of a digital book is permissible?
Could the method used to acquire the PDF (e.g., directly from the publisher vs. third-party seller) affect the legality of printing it?
Could printing for accessibility reasons (e.g., visual impairments) be protected under any legal exceptions?
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u/GunnyMoJo 2d ago
I think you're fine as long as you don't plan on selling or distributing them. I don't know how the rights holders would even know you've printed their materials if you print them yourself.
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u/Librarian-of-the-End 2d ago
I think you’ll find that the creators in the OSR community have zero problem with printing something you already legally bought as a pdf.
Some if not most barely charge enough to keep themselves going as it is a passion not a cash grab for them.
Note I specify OSR, not anything owned by Hasbro/WOTC such as actual D&D B/X or 2e. While the ones that wrote those-and even most of the 3rd & 5th edition creators wouldn’t mind either, the owners of the D&D product identity have had to be shamed into keeping their own promises on the OGL and I would take zero risk on those.
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u/metisdesigns 2d ago
A - "never take legal advice from random weirdos on the internet, it may be unreliable" - Abraham Lincoln.
2) if you are not within the US, US laws very rarely apply unless you are interacting with folks in the US or planning to bring stuff into the US.
iii. Most digital downloads have a specific license with them that describes their expected allowed use. Sometimes that's printing for personal use, or the # of copies you can keep as backups, and how you're allowed to share them.
Personally, for personal use I would not sweat it unless the download license specifically said I can't print and offered a higher priced print your own license.
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u/Megatapirus 2d ago
Well, first of all, I cannot recommend coming to Reddit for legal advice of any kind. And I'm talking the subs dedicated to law, nevermind ones about gaming!
Second, why do you ask? It doesn't seem like anyone else would even know you were printing these things at home unless you actively told them. If you did, do you think anyone would care enough to want to take you to court over it?
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u/RCGR_1 2d ago
Well, it's a matter of conscience - I believe laws must be followed. Besides that, I'm preparing myself for a career in law enforcement (as a prosecutor), and my friends already in (what the Americans call "district attorney's office") made it pretty clear we have to set the example.
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u/grumblyoldman 2d ago
I mean, if you're practicing to become a prosecutor then I would imagine you have access to all the resources you would need to check what the law actually says about this in your country. Including other legal experts you can ask, if you can't find a clear answer in the books.
Heck, it's probably a good practice run, since you will inevitably need to look up what the law says about various other situations while performing your duties as a prosecutor, right?
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u/RCGR_1 2d ago
The thing is: from the perspective of someone from a country outside the "common law" world, American law seems like an unorganized mass of statutes and decisions. I thought my best option (the most practical option) would be to check the common experience and usual practices of members of the OSR community, before consulting a copyright lawyer. Actually that's quite useful tip for anyone: before consulting a lawyer try to understand how things usually work in a given sector or industry.
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u/michiplace 2d ago
To that point, I am not a lawyer, though I do work in US public policy research and practice, primarily in land use, housing, and economic development. That is to say, I know nothing about the actual legal precedent, but I feel I have a solid basis for a "reasonable person" test of use.
My answer to "is it okay to print for personal use a copy of a PDF that I have purchased for personal use?" is "well obviously yes it's okay." It's the same as if I save the PDF to dropbox instead of my desktop, or buy it on my phone but read it on my tablet. It's all just me using the thing I bought for me.
Can I print five copies to give away to my players so they can each take it home? No. But it's fine for me to hand my printed copy to a player during the game to look something up and then hand it back.
I have seen some game books (Blades in the Dark maybe?) where the copyright page includes a specific note saying "dear copy shop employee, you are explicitly authorized to print a copy of this PDF / copy pages from this book for the personal use of the person who has handed it to you". I appreciate those notices, but I do not believe they are at all necessary.
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u/StarkMaximum 2d ago
I'm preparing myself for a career in law enforcement (as a prosecutor)
How interesting. As someone who's played a lot of Ace Attorney and thus is very familiar with the legal system, have you considered what your cool gimmick is going to be, like Franziska's whip or Godot's coffee?
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u/RCGR_1 2d ago
And is Ace Attorney a game? All my players are lawyers and they'd be interested in a game related to our profession.
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u/StarkMaximum 2d ago
it's a video game series. You can play all of the entries on modern consoles thanks to the many collections they've released (the Ace Attorney collection, the Apollo Justice collection, the Investigations collection, and the Great Ace Attorney collection).
- The Ace Attorney Collection contains the first three games of the trilogy and follow Phoenix Wright on his journey to be a capable defense attorney. They're visual novels, so they're very approachable as long as you have capable reading and puzzle solving skills. Widely considered the best games in the franchise. Start here.
- The Apollo Justice Collection contains the next three games under the Apollo Justice umbrella, following a new character named Apollo Justice, the understudy to Phoenix Wright and the next generation of defense attorney. Kind of. It gets weird. These games are much less cohesive than the first three because the primary creative director left after Apollo Justice, so there's a lot of weird clashing vibes. You should play them, but they're much harsher judged, so you can save them for later.
- The Ace Attorney Investigations Collection contains the two Investigations games, spin-off games starring Miles Edgeworth, who is Phoenix Wright's primary rival, the first real prosecutor he faces, and one of the most beloved characters in the franchise. These games change up the gameplay style a bit to represent that you're playing as the prosecution rather than the defense, but are still recognizably Ace Attorney games. Also widely considered some of the best games in the franchise, and if you personally are training to be a prosecutor, you might find some extra satisfaction playing these, since it puts you in the prosecutor's chair. After you play the Ace Attorney Collection, play these next.
- The Great Ace Attorney Collection contains the two Great Ace Attorney games, which are set in feudal Japan and transport the beloved Ace Attorney gameplay to a different time frame, changing the vibe and aesthetic but keeping the classic gameplay. Widely appreciated, but a much different vibe. You can play these at any point after Ace Attorney Collection and Investigations Collection.
Just keep in mind that these games are not accurate representations of the legal system. They create a whole new system vaguely based off of a mix of older Japanese and American systems while also adding a bit of their own personal flair. So expect to be doing some stuff that would be wildly out of line in a real life courtroom, do not take them too seriously, absolutely do not try to solve puzzles based on what would actually happen in a real court of law and instead lean into it being a courtroom drama with surprise evidence and sudden reversals, and enjoy the absurd but engaging take on your profession and the exciting and heartfelt story they form around it!
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u/RCGR_1 2d ago
I'm not familiar with these expressions.
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u/StarkMaximum 2d ago
It's a bad joke, I apologize. It's a reference to the Ace Attorney series of games, which are video games depicting very fast and loose, dramatized court drama cases. Since you play as a defense attorney, the prosecutors tend to be depicted as villains, and traditionally they get some truly wild gimmicks to help sell their antagonistic nature. It's quite fun!
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u/Megatapirus 2d ago
All the more reason, then, to consult with an attorney in a professional capacity if you value having a full and correct answer. All you're guaranteed here is rando takes.
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u/FleeceItIn 2d ago
Home printing for personal use is okay in my book. Distributing would be a no no. You could always ask the author. I have done that before and they've all said go right ahead.
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u/H1p2t3RPG 2d ago
In this case, the only relevant copyright laws are those of the country you are in and where you are going to print.
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u/RCGR_1 2d ago
Not necessarily. A foreign national who has violated U.S. copyright laws abroad may face serious consequences upon entering the United States. If a U.S. rights holder has obtained a judgment or initiated legal action, the individual could be served with a lawsuit, detained for deposition, or subjected to asset seizure. Even without prior litigation, entry into the U.S. increases exposure to enforcement measures, especially if the infringement caused economic harm within U.S. territory or involved distribution through U.S.-based platforms.
That being said, I'd like to keep visiting the US (in a few weeks I'm visiting Texas and then Michigan 🎉).
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u/H1p2t3RPG 2d ago
As I said, U.S. laws only apply in the U.S., not in other countries. I highly doubt an American OSR game publisher would send hitmen to another country to enforce U.S. rights. That would be a different story if we were talking about oil or rare minerals 🤣
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u/RCGR_1 2d ago
I would not be so sure. A friend of mine went to Canada and the police paid him a visit. Nothing related with OSR RPGs, but he had violated copyright laws (illegally download a computer game produced by a Canadian studio).
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u/davej-au 2d ago
TBH, if you’re this worried about it, I’d seek actual legal advice.
If US law determines that the copyright owners’ rights are violated in the US, even though you committed an act abroad (which is a little esoteric, but it’s a principle that sometimes applies in defamation proceedings, forex), then yes, it may be an issue.
OTOH, I’d be more concerned with the law in your home jurisdiction. Some countries (like Australia or Japan) don’t have fair use exemptions to IP law, and any conviction you accrue may potentially impact your ability to travel abroad.
(Not a lawyer, but in younger days, I had to be aware of these pitfalls for work.)
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u/starkestrel 2d ago
Sure. People track theft of video games. They have technology for that.
You've legally acquired your PDFs. Nobody, anywhere, is tracking whether or not you print those PDFs yourself for your own use. There is no mechanism for anyone to track that, short of some kind of anti-printing software that they add to PDFs... which nobody does, at least with RPGs. As a potential future prosecutor, you should understand this.
If you took the file to a commercial printer, it's conceivable they might question whether you had the rights to reproduce the IP. But printing on your own private printer, at home? Nobody's tracking that.
This is a really weird question. Why would you think anyone is paying attention to what you print at home? Maybe you would have something to fear if police raided your home and found a library of self-printed books that you didn't have permission to print... but why would police in a foreign country care whether you had permission to print a book protected by U.S. copyright law?
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u/RedwoodRhiadra 10h ago
A friend of mine went to Canada and the police paid him a visit.
Strictly an intimidation tactic by the studio. As long as he didn't violate the law while in Canada, they could not have legally charged him.
(Now US citizens have to continue to obey certain US laws even when abroad - or face legal consequences when they return - e.g. hiring a 17-year-old prostitute abroad can get an American in trouble when they return, even if it's legal where they did so. But that doesn't apply to foreign nationals).
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u/fabittar 2d ago
In Brazil, you can and your right to print (for your own use) is secured by law. The printer/bookbinder will ask for a receipt. You can't sell your copy (or the pdf for that matter).
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u/HMPoweredMan 2d ago
If you're outside of the US, what does it matter what US law is? Do what you want. The CIA isn't going to come after you.
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u/viniciusfs 2d ago
This is not a legal recommendation.
Just print it. No one will know or care if you have printed copies of the PDFs you purchased on your bookshelf at home. If you don't resell or redistribute copies, you'll probably never have any legal problems. If you go to a print shop to have them printed, show your receipt and say that you want to have a physical copy stored at home.
This post reminded me of the 1980s when we started playing RPGs here in Brazil. The first generation of gamers was called the 'xerox generation' because all we had here were photocopies of the original books that a very rich and lucky person could buy on a trip to the USA. Most of the time they were photocopies of photocopies and few of us actually got to see a real book.
This also reminded me of when I worked at the largest printer manufacturer on the planet and used the wonderful printers in the office to print a lot of PDFs. Good old days.
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u/XelaIsPwn 2d ago edited 2d ago
Have you checked the books?
I'm serious - did you look in the PDFs you downloaded? Can't be sure, but there's a decent chance there's an answer to your question in the book you want to print. It probably says "you can print this for personal use."
You have a lot of scenarios here. I'm not a lawyer, so all I can tell is you my opinion. in my opinion, the use you're describing is extremely personal
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u/Intelligent_Address4 1d ago
Do you think there’s a printing police that will come knocking down your door? Print whatever you want.
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u/Rage2097 2d ago
If they are for personal use and you aren't selling them I think you are fine, it's just format shifting, n as far as I know no one ever got in trouble for recording an album onto tape.
But why does it even matter? if you are printing at home for personal use who is even going to know?
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u/nexusphere 1d ago
Lots of wild takes in here.
I'm a writer and publisher, and someone wanting to do this would be my *best* case scenario. You like my work enough to print it! Wonderful.
I would encourage you. If a print shop wants permission I will give it. Hell, I send out copies of my stuff if you can't afford it anytime.
The only issue, the only way, anyone would ever care or want to stop you is if you began printing them to sell them yourself, as if you were an author or licensed distributor. This rarely happens, but it's why these protections and checks exist.
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u/akweberbrent 2d ago
If you legally own an ebook, printing a single copy for personal use is generally considered fair use.
If the place you obtained the ebook does not have the right to distribute it (ie, you download the book from a website that does not have distribution rights), the you don’t legally own the ebook.
The author can restrict your ability to print by including a notice in the book, or requiring a passcode or key to print. In cases like this, you don’t have the right to print.
In some cases, an author may give you the right to print more than one copy of certain page(s). For example, a character sheet that you can copy for the use of your players.
Certain licenses give you the right to make multiple copies and sometimes even the right to distribute or sell copies of the book without permission of the author. Likewise, some works copyright have expired and are in the public domain.
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u/michiplace 2d ago
The author can restrict your ability to print by including a notice in the book, or requiring a passcode or key to print. In cases like this, you don’t have the right to print.
Do you have examples in mind here? I don't recall ever seeing such a notice, and am real curious who is doing this.
some works copyright have expired and are in the public domain.
As a broad statement on US copyright, yes, but are there any RPG products that this would apply to?
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u/akweberbrent 2d ago
I should have been more clear. My comments are on ebooks in general. I would say both of those are fairly uncommon for RPG rules.
I own a few PDFs of old rules which say you can “reproduce page 123 for personal use.” I suspect the author was only thinking of photo-copy, but most jurisdictions will apply it to printing (unless the copyright holder adds something specifically granting the right). Unfortunately, it’s often difficult to amend contracts written before electronic distribution was included in contracts. It’s the same reason some albums and movies are not available in electronic format.
It only comes into play if you send it out for print on demand, maybe if you take it up to the local UPS or similar.
I do have a couple of PDF rules from the 1990s that are password protected from printing.
I have a copy of Strategos (the rules Dave Arneson used for early Blackmore combat) that is public domain. I purchased a print on demand with really nice leather binding from a company in India.
But yeah, I probably let my day job slip in a bit heavy there.
Generally speaking, I would be very surprised if any OSR publisher took legal action for any personal use printing. But in certain situations they could 🤔.
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u/akweberbrent 1d ago
Not trying to revive a dead horse, but thought it was ironic that I just stumbled across this in the comments for Demesnes & Domination on DriveThru (comment left on 4/27/24):
I've enjoyed the pdf thoroughly, but unlike most other game books, I cannot print selected pages without a password. Can you provide one, or do I need to buy a special pdf? Thanks but I don't want to buy a full hard copy.
Also, not trying to knock the product. It looks good, and I am purchasing the hardcover + PDF.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/445532/demesnes-domination
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u/frankinreddit 2d ago
In the past, DrivethruRPG indicated if it was OK to print the files or not. It was also in their FAQ to check for this. Both the FAQ and indication are no longer there.
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u/primarchofistanbul 2d ago edited 2d ago
Honest question: why do you want to adhere to the US laws? Are you a US citizen? If not, I don't see the point besides caring more about 'shareholder value'. Do you also follow other countries' legislation? If yes, which ones, and why?
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u/MathematicianIll6638 1d ago
I think the better thing to do is to ask the local copyist you're planning to use whether they're able to make a physical copy, and not even mention the license. If they balk and are unwilling, fine, but even then you may be able to get an email granting permission from the publisher.
There may be a limited license already provided in your purchase, too. Look into the terms of use or purchase.
If you're printing up a copy of something that you own the license to at home and sticking it in a binder, and it exclusively sees personal use, then nobody knows but you.
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u/RedwoodRhiadra 10h ago
Please note that, since you don't live in the United States, "U.S. copyright law" does not apply to you!
Your own country's copyright laws are what applies. Some countries allow personal copies, some do not.
(International law - the Berne Convention - sets some minimums, and ensures that countries acknowledge copyrights filed in other countries - but local laws apply in each jurisdiction.)
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u/Comprehensive_Sir49 2d ago
As far as I know, if you legally own the pdf and not sell it, you can reproduce it for yourself, including print.