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I'm curious what opinions are out there on allowing limited release formations, dataslates, etc.. into events. In general I lean toward being pretty permissive in my events (FW, etc.), but even though they're very casual and usually narrative-oriented, I'm not comfortable allowing rules that other people simply can't get (legally). This is the wording I've been using in my event rules for a while now:

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All up-to-date, official Warhammer 40,000 and Age of Darkness army sources are permitted that are available in current publication. This does include White Dwarf entries, which are available via back issues, and current campaign books. It does not include limited edition dataslates and formations, e.g., those included in mega-bundles. Contact the event organizer(s) beforehand about any questions. Remember that you must have all sources on hand.
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The original big provocation for that was the Skyhammer Formation, which previously only came with a limited release mega-bundle and is considered by most to be pretty strong (it's going to become generally available with the new Angels of Death supplement). I'm not aware of other threatening examples at the moment, though certainly there are a bunch of bundle formations out there now. Bringing this topic back up at the moment though is the Imperial Space Marine (30th Anniversary model). He's certainly not game breaking, though kind of annoying (should be a ~15pt upgrade or ~30pt IC), but the rules are apparently only available this weekend with the model (they should make the rules a free PDF or at least put in WD, and keep just the model limited).

I'll set aside the observation that limited release formations were yet another a tacit acknowledgement all along that GW's stance about "selling models not games" was pure BS and they knew it...

Thoughts on allowing limited release rules in events?

Eh I don't think its that big of a deal. Been allowing things like Skyhammer and such for a while. I get the whole its not available to all so shouldn't allow it mentality. But it kind of sucks for the guys that did go out of their way and buy it and not be able to play it.

IMO the solution is to drop the "legal" requirement for bringing rules. Everyone knows what those limited-edition rules are and how to get them, so why not allow someone to bring a printed pdf of them? I understand the idea of requiring legal copies of things that a store can sell, if a store is hosting your event, but I don't think the community has any obligation at all to enforce limited-edition restrictions on behalf of GW.

For better and for worse, nearly all of my events are hosted in a local shop, so officially I need to require legal sources.