Just my 2 cents on the beholder licensing thing: there are many many games with beholder-like creatures which didn't pay any kind of royalties to WoTC (or SSI or whatever was the rights-holder at the time), just think of Ultima's gazers or Doom's cacodemons.
I guess the big points are
1) not using the name "beholder" in any way ever (as it probably is trade-marked and is likely the most important thing - WoTC doesn't want a monopoly in big-floating-meatballs, they want being associated with the coolest monster around when it is named in geek mythology)
2) have enough different details in its design (colour, number of eyestalks, function of the central eye, etc.). A floating eye is hardly original, they don't own that concept. They own the one where the eye is a chaotic-evil aberration with 10 eyes shooting each one a specific ray and with a central eye projecting an anti-magic zone etc. etc., however.
The same I think applies to Illithids (Mind Flayers) as the concept of monsters with tentacles on their face is older than RPG gaming by centuries (besides, Goromorgs are quite similar). Even the concept of eating the brain going through the nose is actually quite some million years old (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naegleria_fowleri - do not read if you are easily impressed)
IANAL of course.
