Third-Party Accessories and Stonemaier Games – Stonemaier Games

Third-Party Accessories and Stonemaier Games

For me, perhaps the most surprising aspect of Scythe’s success has been the sheer amount of complementary accessories other companies have created for it. There are custom meeples and inserts and 3D printed tokens and promo coins and t-shirts and digital apps…the list goes on and on.

I love that Scythe has inspired this level of creativity from companies around the world. I also love the positive impact these accessories have had on fans of Scythe–in addition to official accessories, promos, and digital games published or licensed by Stonemaier Games, they have a wealth of third-party options to choose from if they want to enhance their game.

Stonemaier Games doesn’t get a single cent from sales of third-party accessories. This is on purpose, as it frees me to say “no” in a number of ways:

  • No special treatment. There are expectations associated with an exchange of money. If I accept a royalty, you might expect me to promote your product or send you files that others don’t have access to.
  • No exclusivity. Royalty/licensing agreements often involve exclusivity, but I want to see–and share–a broad range of creativity from a number of different companies. I think open-market competition is a good thing.
  • No time spent. I just want to run Stonemaier Games–I don’t want to spend my time advising another company as to whether or not their accessory looks good, nor do I want to serve as their personal marketing consultant.
  • No price hikes. If Stonemaier Games doesn’t take a royalty, in theory, that should allow for the third-party company to keep the price lower, which is good for Scythe fans.

Is this the only way with third-party accessory companies? Of course not. I’m sure there are publishers out there who seek royalties in a way that works for their fans, their time, and the accessory companies. It’s just not the path I’ve chosen for Stonemaier Games.

However, I’ve learned the hard way that we need to have some rules in place for third-party accessory companies. The “hard way” is that sometimes these third-party companies don’t make it clear that the accessory isn’t an official Stonemaier product. Usually this results in mild, harmless confusion. But there are occasions where the marketing message from those companies is in direct opposition to Stonemaier’s core philosophies, and the confusion becomes a bigger problem.

So I created a simple agreement for third-party accessory companies to sign. This ensures we’re on the same page about what they can and can’t do, as well as the repercussions if they violate the agreement (which are there as a deterrent–I hope never to enforce them).

I’ll paste the entirety of that agreement below so you can see how we do it. You’re welcome to use and tweak this template for your company.

***

Unofficial Accessory License Agreement

This Agreement is between Stonemaier LLC (“Stonemaier”) and ??? (“Designer”).

  1. Grant of License
    • Stonemaier’s Products and Trademarks. Stonemaier is the creator and owner of all rights to several games and other products (the “Products”), as well as a number of valuable trademarks, both registered and unregistered, related to Stonemaier and the Products.
    • Grant. Stonemaier grants to Designer the limited, non-exclusive right to create ??? (the “Product”).
    • Limitations. This agreement is subject to the following limitations:
      • No Consultancy or Assistance – Stonemaier will not assist in the creation of the Product. Designer may inquire as to whether their presentation of the Product is meeting these guidelines, but they may not ask for Stonemaier’s private files, ideas, suggestions, or opinions.
      • No Sponsorship or Affiliation – At no point during the advertisement of the Product may Designer, either directly or indirectly, indicate that the Accessories are endorsed by, sponsored by, or affiliated with Stonemaier. Stonemaier’s trademarked names cannot be on the Product.
      • Disclaimer Required – Designer will include the following disclaimer on all advertising materials and on the packaging of the accessories themselves: “Not an Official Stonemaier Games product.”
      • No Identical Art or Iconology – Designer may create art inspired by Stonemaier’s copywritten materials, but Designer may not use Stonemaier’s original art, icons, or logos. There are a few rare exceptions noted on Stonemaier’s website, such as a few of Scythe’s icons.
      • Terminology – A major part of the Stonemaier brand is inclusivity. While the Designer is welcome to sell the Products as they wish, we ask that they avoid the word “exclusive.”
      • Credit – Designer agrees to credit Stonemaier Games, the original game designer, and the game artist(s) when referencing the original Product.
      • Objectionable Material – The Product will not be objectionable (racist, sexist, etc). The Product also may not replace any core mechanical aspect of the game (e.g., tokens, overlays, coins, and organizers are fine; cards, player mats, and game boards are not).
    • Ownership and Validity. Licensee acknowledges that Stonemaier is the sole and exclusive owner of the entire right, title, and interest (including all accompanying goodwill) in and to the Trademarks. Licensee agrees not to attack the validity of any of the Trademarks at any time.
  2. Infringement
    • Remedies. Designer acknowledges that Stonemaier is entitled to injunctive or other equitable relief, as well as a 20% royalty on revenue of the Products, in the event of any infringement by Designer. Stonemaier may terminate the agreement at any time. Designer may request approval from Stonemaier in advance to avoid any violations.
    • Indemnity. Designer will defend, indemnify and hold Stonemaier harmless from and against any and all loss, liability, claims, suits, actions, proceedings, judgments, awards, damages and expenses (including attorneys’ fees) that they may incur by reason of the Designer’s manufacture, use, sale, advertising or distribution of the Accessories.
    • Governing Law. Any dispute arising under or in connection with this Agreement will be governed by the law of the State of Missouri and be resolved in the state or federal courts of Missouri. The parties consent to the jurisdiction of such courts.

***

What do you think about our approach to third-party accessories?

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23 Comments on “Third-Party Accessories and Stonemaier Games

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  1. […] *Note that this topic is about gameplay content. For component upgrades and accessories, the process and guidelines are explained here. […]

  2. […] the playmats. Instead, most enhancement accessories come from independent third-party creators who follow these guidelines and don’t pay any royalties to us. If you have a brand like Wingspan, I’d recommend […]

  3. Hi Jamy, I am asking my questions here as requested, thank you for the quick answer on my email ! So my questions concern player boards made out of playmat, like you did with Wingspan, but more broadly, how are those made and how it works to make third party product. This site gave me a good amount of information, but questions remain out of curiosity !
    1. Where playmat for Wingspan a good investment in your opinion? 2. How are playmats commissioned ? Did you contacted a factory that specifically makes them and gave them the files to print them ? 3. Are third party license agreement necessary to make unofficial product ?
    And with the information on this page, I see that third party can’t reuse iconography from your games. Lets say I would like to do a player board mat for scythe, with holes to put the pieces in. Would that be impossible since no iconography can be put on these ? Is this a common agreement for third party product or something specific to Stonemaier games ?
    Thank you again for indulging my curiosity !

    1. Etienne: Thanks for posting your thoughts and questions here.

      1. I consider anything a good investment if it makes our fans happy, and that seems to be the case for the people who have purchased the Wingspan natural rubber playmats.

      2. We send files to our manufacturer, and they create the playmats.

      3. Third-party accessory agreements are always necessary if someone wants to create and advertise content related to our games. We do not authorize third-party creators to sell copywritten gameplay content like player mats, as we are the publisher–we created the game, so we are the only company who can sell parts of the game.

  4. I think this is great, a game I worked on has something pretty similar with the ‘friends of Gaslands’ community. Its a way of letting people do what they do well, or even better than us, and offering it to our fans.

  5. […] the heels of my recent legal-themed articles about third-party accessories and game designers, a few people have asked me about artist negotiations and contracts. So […]

  6. Does this mean anyone that signs this can create derivative works that specifically are called Third Party Unofficial Accessory for whatever title in the Stonemeier arsenal, as long as they respect the underlying agreement?

  7. […] Third-Party Accessories and Stonemaier Games […]

  8. Would designing new boardgame templates also fall under this agreement Jamey?

    I really like scythe but think that a customisable gameboard design (ala Catan, Ti4 etc.) could add immense value.

    I’d like to give it a go.

    1. Matthew: Thanks, but we already have a modular board for Scythe in the works. It’s fully designed, and I’m just waiting for Jakub to complete the art.

  9. If someone such as I would be interested in designing new game board concepts would that also be something SMG would welcome?

  10. I think you are being more than generous and I hope that people creating third party products respect your, “Unofficial Accessory License Agreement”.

    I see so many Kickstarter projects and Etsy store items (enamel pins, art books, prints and calendars, plus other items) that just blatantly use art or modify it slightly by poorly redrawing it and coloring it, not only without caring one bit that they are doing it, but actually feel they have the right to, since the artist/company they are ripping off isn’t currently making the items.

    They like to call it fan art, but they know very well, that once it’s intentionally being reproduced and multiples are being sold as a product, it’s no longer “fan art”.

    Many times, the person marketing these items just blanks out the face or creates a silhouette of the item, with a link to the actual photo / mock-up of the product or similar ones they have on sale already. But most of the ones I’ve come across don’t.

  11. The most common example I can think of, using a third party product, is mods for popular games like Skyrim or World of Warcraft. Users are able to select and choose the options they prefer to enhance ones personal gaming experience. Installing the mod is a personal decision, and the user is free to uninstall at any time. Blizzard has incorporate many of these mods into their base code eliminating the need to use the mod as it now provides a redundant user experience. There are many other examples of digital content being provided to enhance a user’s gaming experience and the decision by the gaming company to encourage individual contribution has drastically increased.

    Setting licensing or legal guidelines seems necessary to clearly define the arrangement between your company and the third parties providing the gaming mod. Accepting, encouraging, and establishing guidelines is a very rational approach.

  12. Always a pillar of the game community. Thanks for everything you do for the hobby (and business) of board games, Jamey!

  13. I think it’s great how much you support your fans and the Scythe community. This sort of reminds me how Stephen King allows student filmmakers to create films of any of his short stories for only $1. He gets more exposure (even though he doesn’t really need it), and the filmmakers get a chance to play around in the world of an esteemed writer.

    https://www.stephenking.com/dollarbabies.php

  14. Awesome article! And thank you for an inside look at your agreement, this has actually been something in the back of my mind recently and its awesome to see how Stonemaier Games handles it.

  15. I like it, though IANAL. There is a type though:

    “Licensee may ask Stonemaier add a link…”

    I assume you missed a “to” :) I wouldn’t mention it, but being a legal document…

  16. I like this approach. It frees up everyone on both sides of the agreement, protecting Stonmaier’s IP and giving the third party freedom to produce products they think will be useful. Your reasons for not taking a more active role in those third-party products are solid.

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