Disclaimer
This is the legal stuff. If you are still interested, keep reading. If not, just sign up for our eNewsletter to get interesting stuff in your inbox:
Q: Who created this website?
A: Kent Slocum. You can find out more about Kent at his personal website, www.kentslocum.com.
Kent Slocum is not an employee or representative of Catan Studio, Inc., or its licensor Catan GmbH. Instead, Kent is a full-time student at the University of Oregon, and enjoys playing Catan in his spare time. After owning and playing all of the expansions to the core game, he realized that there are some incompatibilities between the different rules sets. These inconsistencies prevented him from playing all of the Catan expansions at once.
As a result, Kent developed an in-depth instruction manual that significantly re-writes the Official Rules and incorporates new ideas and third-party expansions.
Q: What is the purpose of this website?
A: To share a better Catan ruleset with others.
Kent's "universal" ruleset, as published on this website, is not intended to replace, copy, or supplement the official rule sets. Instead, it represents a completely new instruction manual that clarifies, reconciles, and expands a set of rules for playing the following games together or individually:
- Catan Base Game
- Catan Seafarers
- Catan Cities& Knights
- Catan Traders & Barbarians
- Catan Explorers & Pirates
- Catan Legend of the Sea Robbers
- Catan Helpers of Catan
- Catan Frenemies
- Catan Oil Springs
Q: Has the official Catan Team been notified about this site?
A: Yes, they have.
On April 12, 2018, Kent sent a formal request to the owners of the rights to Catan, seeking Fair-Use permission to place his modified Catan ruleset online.
On April 16, 2018, Kent received a cordial response from Gavin Allister, the Catan GmbH and Catan Studio "Ombudsman." In his email, Gavin said the following:
A substantive rewrite of rules—that is, employing a largely new articulation that doesn’t simply replicate copyrighted text—can qualify under the “commentary” subsection of the “fair use” exception of copyright law. The author must clearly present the expression as “interpretative" and “his/her own commentary.” They cannot pass off the text as originating from the original author. If you abide by those guidelines, you can go ahead with your instruction manual as you have outlined in your e-mail.
Because Kent's modified ruleset is freely accessible on an interactive website by all individuals, at no charge, this website is not infringing on any copyrights held by Catan Studio, Inc. and its licensor Catan GmbH.
Q: Is this an official Catan website?
A: No, it is not.
While this site references a game called Catan, this website is in no way, shape, or form connected or endorsed by Catan Studio, Inc., or its licensor Catan GmbH. Catan is a trademark of Catan Studio, Inc. and its licensor Catan GmbH, which do not sponsor, authorize, or endorse this site.
Kent has the utmost respect for the legal rights and privileges of Klaus Teuber, the creator of Catan. You can read the official IP policy on the official Catan website here.
Because he desires to promote the enjoyment of Catan and support the purchase of officially licensed merchandise, Kent has agreed to prominently display the official copyright, trademark, and designer notice on each page of this website, stating that the work is based upon Catan GmbH's work. The complete text of this notice is as follows:
Legalese: The material on this website is based upon “Catan,” a creation and design of Klaus Teuber and property of Catan GmbH. Catan is a registered trademark of Catan GmbH, and Catan GmbH is not responsible for the contents of this site. All derivative material is published with specific permission of, and license from, Catan Studio, Inc. and its licensor Catan GmbH. However, they do not claim association or responsibility for the content on this site. All trademarks contained herein are the property of Catan GmbH. All references to Catan are Copyright © 2018 Catan Studio, Inc. and Catan GmbH. All rights reserved.
Plain English: CatanFusion is a fan-site for improving the Catan gaming experience. Although the content is derived from the game of Catan, please note that Catan Studio, Inc. and its licensor Catan GmbH which have nothing to do with this site or the content on it. If you have concerns about anything on this site (including plagiarism, copyright, or creative licenses), DO NOT contact the official Catan support team. Instead, please reach out to us immediately at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. We will gladly address your concerns.