OGL Was Previously Disallowed
I'd like to point out that there's an extremely good reason why none of the documents in the current Conversion Library are compliant with this new policy: what the new policy
requires, the old policy
banned.
I started to do a few conversions and wanted to make absolutely sure I did it correctly: so, not only did I read Jim Butler's old comments, I also sent email to Ryan Dancey with a few questions. After a few exchanges, Dancey confirmed the following: not only was it
not allowed to add the d20 mark to conversions (which I expected), it was also
not allowed to release them under the OGL, with the OGL license attached (because it would violate the trademark clause in Section 7). So that's a solid part of why nothing in the Conversion Library has the OGL in it.
There are other problems with this new document:
- It doesn't look "final" (despite the title). The one I see still has redlined comments from an editor, which I can't imagine would be part of a final release.
- The policy only refers to ESD's, which seems like a giant oversight -- I bet most people were doing conversions from old hardcopies they had lying around.
- And of course, the "terminate at any time" clause is highly unnerving (I sure hope the current management doesn't also think they can do this to the OGL/SRD anytime they want):
Morrus said:
Hmm.. if they can revoke the policy, I don't think that I'm gonna be willing to start another conversion library and waste 2 more year's of work when they change their minds.
Yes, that's probably one of the most troubling parts of what this document is asserting.