Dungeons and Dragons - the return of Gygax

The late Gary Gyax was responsible for the ground breaking Dungeons and Dragons, the roleplaying game that spawned a whole genre of such games (and even laid the ground work for the next generation of computer based roleplaying games).


A new company, called TSR, is publishing a new magazine called table top role playing called Gygax (see http://gygaxmagazine.com/ ). The company is leg by Luke and Ernie Gygax, the sons of the late Gary Gygax. Assisted by some living legends from the world of D&D, such as the ex Dragon Magazine editor Tim Kask, the magazine is likely to be of high quality. However, what seems like a good idea is in fact a legal minefield.

Gary Gygax’s second wife, Gail Gygax (not the mother of Luke and Ernie) believes she and the firm Wizards of the Coast (a subsidiary of Hasbro) believe they own all the rights to Gary Gygax’s name, likeness and intellectual property.

I suspect the next battle in the world of Dungeon’s and Dragons will be in the courtroom and not on the table top.