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Old 23rd June 2008, 08:05 PM   #4 (permalink)
Lizard
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Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 2,598
Lizard Goblin Sharpshooter (Lvl 2)
1)What protection is there for products which use terms which are not now part of the SRD, but which someday might be? Leaving aside issues of core material such as Druid and Bard, which we can safely guess will someday be part of D&D, it is not possible to always guess what WOTC has planned -- for example, there were "Swashbuckler" and "Artificer" classes LONG before Complete Warrior and Eberron. Will there be a "grandfather clause"?

2)The STL allowed for a 30 day "cure" period for a breach. This protected publishers because it meant WOTC had to specify WHAT was in breach and give them a chance to reply. As written, the GSL seems to give wholly arbitrary power to WOTC, to basically shut down, at will, any product or publisher without any cause needed. Is this a correct reading of the product?

3)If a creature is not listed in the SRD, but exists in legend and mythology, is it legal to create a version of it? For example, the Succubus. WOTC cannot claim a trademark on either the word "Succubus" or the mythological concept of it. Is it legal for a 3PP to create their own version of the succubus, which is not mechanically or conceptually based on the MM version, except to the extent that both draw from the same legend (a seductive, beautiful demonic entity) and thus would have to be at least partially similar?

4)Can a 3PP use a unique and distinct cosmology? If not, to what extent can the 'default' cosmology be expanded upon?
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