View source for Players Committee-Lucasfilm agreement

'''Note:''' Prefer dated primary or archived sources. Soft / secondary claims are labeled. This page does '''not''' invent a Disney-era contract text that has not been published. Broader timeline: [[History of the Players Committee]].

The '''Players Committee&ndash;Lucasfilm agreement''' is the community name for the arrangement under which the volunteer [[Players Committee]] (PC) continued organized play and free electronic Virtual cards for ''Star Wars'' CCG after Decipher lost the commercial Lucasfilm license. Public PC / Decipher materials describe cooperation with '''Decipher and Lucasfilm Ltd.''', with explicit distribution restrictions &mdash; not a published full legal contract on this wiki.<ref name="pc1">[https://web.archive.org/web/20020611042314/http://decipher.com/starwars/playerscommittee1.html The Star Wars Players' Committee], decipher.com (Wayback, 11 June 2002)</ref><ref name="pcabout">[https://www.starwarsccg.org/about-us/ About Us], starwarsccg.org</ref><ref name="pcabout2">[https://www.starwarsccg.org/about/ About], starwarsccg.org</ref><ref name="pcabout3">[https://playerscommittee.org/about/ About], playerscommittee.org</ref>

This wiki is a '''fan encyclopedia'''. It is not the Players Committee and does not replace [https://www.starwarsccg.org/ starwarsccg.org].

== After Decipher lost the license ==

In '''December 2001''', Decipher announced it had been unable to extend its Lucasfilm license to continue producing the game.<ref name="pcabout" /> Unable to keep producing, marketing, or supporting the commercial product, Decipher formed a volunteer '''Players' Committee''' / Player Advocate structure so fans could continue tournaments, rulings, and support.<ref name="pc1" /><ref name="pcabout" />

Period research on this wiki places an Advocate announcement around '''~25 January 2002''' ('''soft / med''' until a single stable permalink is locked on [[History of the Players Committee]]). The June 2002 Wayback HTML of the Decipher Players' Committee page remains the firmly linked contemporary cite.<ref name="pc1" />

=== Stated restrictions (PC About) ===

PC About copy summarizes the ability to create new cards '''with restrictions''', including:<ref name="pcabout" />

* Cards could only be distributed '''electronically'''
* The PC could '''not''' create physical cards
* The PC could '''not''' utilize '''new images''' from the ''Star Wars'' films
* Everything the PC created must be distributed '''for free''' (no sale of PC-created cards)

With the cooperation of Decipher and Lucasfilm Ltd., the PC began releasing Virtual cards in '''2002''' as printable game-text overlays (and later fuller frames) placed over existing Decipher cards &mdash; see [[V-slips]] and [[Virtual Sets (2002-2009)]].<ref name="pcabout" /><ref name="tfn2002">[https://theforce.net/ccg/story/Players_Committee_Announces_the_First_Virtual_Card_Set_68946.asp Player's Committee Announces the First Virtual Card Set], TheForce.Net, 12 February 2002</ref>

Forum / design-policy discussions also refer to PC agreements with Lucasfilm and Decipher when explaining tournament proxy policy and related limits ('''secondary''' community sources; not a substitute for the unpublished contract text).<ref name="proxyforum">[https://forum.starwarsccg.org/viewtopic.php?p=1372122 Star Wars CCG Players Committee Forums] &mdash; proxy / agreement discussion (forum post)</ref>

== Disney takeover of Lucasfilm (context) ==

The Walt Disney Company announced its agreement to acquire Lucasfilm on '''30 October 2012''' (primary Disney / SEC materials).<ref name="disney2012">[https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/news/disney-acquire-lucasfilm/ Disney to Acquire Lucasfilm], The Walt Disney Company, 30 October 2012</ref><ref name="disney8k">[https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1001039/000119312512441509/d429302d8k.htm Walt Disney Company Form 8-K], 30 October 2012</ref>

'''Gap (honest):''' this wiki has '''not''' located a primary Disney- or Lucasfilm-published document that restates, novates, or reprints the PC support arrangement after the acquisition. Current PC About pages still describe ongoing work '''with the cooperation of Decipher and Lucasfilm Ltd.''' and do not publish a separate Disney-era agreement text.<ref name="pcabout" />

=== Soft secondary (labeled) ===

A May 2018 ''The Ringer'' feature interviews PC lead advocate Scott Lingrell and others. It reports ('''soft / secondary''') that roughly eight years before that article the PC wrote Lucasfilm about reclaiming a commercial license; Lucasfilm declined manufacturing, but community representatives later met Lucasfilm staff who expressed that the volunteer work was welcome &mdash; with the PC remaining careful not to lose that trust.<ref name="ringer2018">[https://www.theringer.com/2018/5/21/17374528/star-wars-customizable-card-game-player-community The Force Is Strong With This 'Star Wars' Subculture], Ben Lindbergh, ''The Ringer'', 21 May 2018</ref> That article is '''not''' a primary legal source for Disney-era contract terms.

Separate commercial ''Star Wars'' tabletop licenses (e.g. Fantasy Flight Games' 2011 Lucasfilm games license for card/RPG/miniatures products) are '''not''' the same arrangement as PC Virtual support for Decipher's out-of-print CCG.<ref name="icv2ffg">[https://icv2.com/articles/games/view/20728/ffg-acquires-star-wars-games-license FFG Acquires 'Star Wars' Games License], ICv2, 2 August 2011</ref>

== Continuity of Virtual program ==

Regardless of the unpublished contract file, the PC continued releasing free Virtual slips / sets after 2012, including the '''2014 Virtual Card Reset''' and ongoing Current Virtual sets &mdash; documented on [[History of the Players Committee]], [[Formats]], and the Main Page Virtual Modern band.

== See also ==

* [[History of the Players Committee]]
* [[Players Committee]]
* [[V-slips]]
* [[Virtual Sets (2002-2009)]]
* [[Formats]]

== Gaps ==

* Full text of any Decipher / Lucasfilm / PC legal agreement: '''not published''' on cited primary pages
* Primary Disney-era restatement or novation of PC support rights: '''not found''' in this research pass
* Exact calendar date of any post-acquisition confirmation meeting: only soft secondary (Ringer)

== Sources ==

* Decipher Players' Committee page (Wayback, June 2002)
* starwarsccg.org About Us / About; playerscommittee.org About
* TFN Virtual Set 1 announce (12 February 2002)
* Disney Lucasfilm acquisition announce / Form 8-K (30 October 2012)
* ''The Ringer'' (21 May 2018) &mdash; soft secondary only
* ICv2 FFG license note (context; not PC agreement)

== References ==
<references />

[[Category:Players Committee]]
[[Category:History]]