So looking through it... very basic simple overview (I am not a lawyer, I am defintely not your lawyer, and this is not legal advice!)
Overview
A quick look section by section. The license is divided into 5 sections.
Product Identity & ORC Content
Let's look at Product Identity and ORC Content. These are analogous to the Product Identity and OGC in the OGL. (Note, common point of confusion I see, Product Identity -- PI -- is not the same term as Intellectual Property -- IP).
You have to make a "reasonable, good-faith effort" to idenfity your PI and ORC Content (that needs an abbreviation: I'll go with OC for now) to the next user. That's kinda vague, of course, and subject to interpretation, and I'm sure some people will obfuscate it while claiming to have met that requirement as they did with the OGL.
Product Identity
Much like the OGL, this is the content you want to keep to yourself. Names, art, etc. are common (eg WotC in the OGL keeps back stuff like 'Dungeons & Dragons' and 'Forgotten Realms'. Those are the bits other people cannot use. You need to list them all. It also includes stuff like trade dress (the reason why you shouldn't make your OGL product look like an official D&D book in layout!)
Note you cannot include anything previously designated as OC, or which belong to somebody else, or which are pubic domain. Your stuff only.
ORC Content
There's two types - the stuff you declare is OC, and the stuff you are using from somebody else's OC (which the license calls Adapted ORC Content, so I'll go with AOC).
OC is specifically declared by you. You need to make that "reasonable, good-faith effort" to identify it to the reader.
Additionally, game rules are automatically OC. It has a complicated definition in the license, but basically mechanics are OC.
AOC is stuff that you've taken from other OC sources and adapted or used.
Rights
Anybody can use OC (or AOC, which is OC). You cannot stop them, limit their use, impose conditions, charge them, or ask for royalties. All they have to do is use the ORC. These rights apply to all media and formats, even those which haven't been invented yet.
Again, very basic overview. There is more detail and nuance. But that's the gist of it.
Using the Required Notice
To use ORC you need to put the Required Notice stuff in your product. This is like a legal block of info--they provide an example, but you don't have to format it like that. Basically you must include:
ORC Notice. A couple of sentences of legal text you can copy and paste.
Attribution Notice: You have to attribute all upstream creators of OC you use in the way they requested. This is like the OGL, and is 'viral' in nature, so you might have a big long list of upstream creators you need to credit, which you inherit from the creator you're borrowing from. You can probably copy and paste this from the product(s) you're using, and then add the requested attribution from that product.
Product Identity Notice: List the stuff you're designating as PI (as in my previous post). A "reasonable, good-faith effort".
ORC Content Notice: Identify the stuff you're desgnating as OC. A "reasonable, good-faith effort". Note of course, as mentioned before, game rules and OC which you have borrowed are automatically OC, whether you declare it or not. That doesn't mean you don't have to declare it though, you still have to make that "reasonable, good-faith effort", but it does cover things you might miss.
Overview
A quick look section by section. The license is divided into 5 sections.
- sI defines Product Identity (the stuff you want to keep), ORC Content (the stuff you want to share), and a few other terms. Obviously you can't make somebody's PI into ORC Content, and you can't make somebody's ORC Content into PI.
- sII grants you the right to use other creators' ORC Content. It's worldwide, royalty free, irrevocable. It also grants everybody else the right to use your ORC Content. You can't limit usage, charge for it, or impose any conditions.
- sIII tells you how to put the ORC notice in your product. Doing that is required to use the license. You include attribution of the creator or Orc Content you are using, info on how you should be credited for your ORC Content, and identification of what you want to designate as Product Identity.
- sIV is legal stuff which stops people suing you if you use the license wrong and somebody downstream from you unwittingly uses content they shouldn't because of your mistake. Basically, it's up to each user to double check, not to rely on the previous user to have done it right.
- sV is how the license terminates if you breach it. You get 60 days to fix the breach, and if your license terminated, those downstream from you are still OK. It also explains how the license can't be amended, revoked, etc.
Product Identity & ORC Content
Let's look at Product Identity and ORC Content. These are analogous to the Product Identity and OGC in the OGL. (Note, common point of confusion I see, Product Identity -- PI -- is not the same term as Intellectual Property -- IP).
You have to make a "reasonable, good-faith effort" to idenfity your PI and ORC Content (that needs an abbreviation: I'll go with OC for now) to the next user. That's kinda vague, of course, and subject to interpretation, and I'm sure some people will obfuscate it while claiming to have met that requirement as they did with the OGL.
Product Identity
Much like the OGL, this is the content you want to keep to yourself. Names, art, etc. are common (eg WotC in the OGL keeps back stuff like 'Dungeons & Dragons' and 'Forgotten Realms'. Those are the bits other people cannot use. You need to list them all. It also includes stuff like trade dress (the reason why you shouldn't make your OGL product look like an official D&D book in layout!)
Note you cannot include anything previously designated as OC, or which belong to somebody else, or which are pubic domain. Your stuff only.
ORC Content
There's two types - the stuff you declare is OC, and the stuff you are using from somebody else's OC (which the license calls Adapted ORC Content, so I'll go with AOC).
OC is specifically declared by you. You need to make that "reasonable, good-faith effort" to identify it to the reader.
Additionally, game rules are automatically OC. It has a complicated definition in the license, but basically mechanics are OC.
AOC is stuff that you've taken from other OC sources and adapted or used.
Rights
Anybody can use OC (or AOC, which is OC). You cannot stop them, limit their use, impose conditions, charge them, or ask for royalties. All they have to do is use the ORC. These rights apply to all media and formats, even those which haven't been invented yet.
Again, very basic overview. There is more detail and nuance. But that's the gist of it.
Using the Required Notice
To use ORC you need to put the Required Notice stuff in your product. This is like a legal block of info--they provide an example, but you don't have to format it like that. Basically you must include:
ORC Notice. A couple of sentences of legal text you can copy and paste.
Attribution Notice: You have to attribute all upstream creators of OC you use in the way they requested. This is like the OGL, and is 'viral' in nature, so you might have a big long list of upstream creators you need to credit, which you inherit from the creator you're borrowing from. You can probably copy and paste this from the product(s) you're using, and then add the requested attribution from that product.
Product Identity Notice: List the stuff you're designating as PI (as in my previous post). A "reasonable, good-faith effort".
ORC Content Notice: Identify the stuff you're desgnating as OC. A "reasonable, good-faith effort". Note of course, as mentioned before, game rules and OC which you have borrowed are automatically OC, whether you declare it or not. That doesn't mean you don't have to declare it though, you still have to make that "reasonable, good-faith effort", but it does cover things you might miss.
