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[Morrus]

Originally Posted by justanobody

Also personally, I don't like the section about "redefine terms" that gives WotC the rights to public domain names such as elf/etc to dictate to me how I would describe or detail them.

You gotta give something in exchange. It's not a free gift - it's a contract, where both parties give something. WotC gives this powerful brand name, in exchange for which you give up certain rights. You're not forced to sign that contract; but if you think it's worth it to you, you will.

but, I see claiming ownership in any form of public domain terms as a violation and makes the GSL not even legal.

Fortunately, the welath of legal jurisdiction disagrees with you. A contract is legal as long as it doesn't require any criminal act.

Had they wanted the GSL to really protect their IP, then they needed to create from whole cloth completely new races. Not include elf at all, but have Eladrin in its place. If for some reason I actually might be insane enough to like Nordic mythology and want my elves to resemble those from it, I should not have to supplant some additional word to "elf" to prevent from "redefining terms" that would constitute some breach of the contract and license.

You're free to do all that. You just don't get to slap a shiny D&D logo on your product. I'm a pubisher with a vested financial interest in this, and I think that's perfectly fair.

The only thing stopping me signing it is the "trash all your OGL stuff" clause. Can't afford to do that.