Answers on the GSL!

Yair

Community Supporter
DanMcS said:
Discussing a game online, including quoting rules from it, is fair use, whether that came is licensed under the OGL, the GSL, or not available for license at all.
And would you be willing to go to court over it?

The issue is murky, and will remain so until a judgment is made on such a case (or a few). What you say is true, but it's also true that judges tend more to side with the big money in recent years, and abide by strict WTO restrictions.

Would the courts decide a post quoting a single rule and a thread discussing it isn't fair-use? I'd be willing to bet "no". Will the courts find the entirety of the ENWorld site, with its close links with ENPublishing, commercial-profits from advertisements, and comprehensive (overall) quotation or restatement of the rules in violation? I'm far less certain. Even taking the themes of 4e, such as pulsihiing a campaign with the dragon-born warriors with the race's specific history, could be a violation of copyright (since authors "enjoy the exclusive right of authorizing adaptations, arrangements and other alterations of their works." per the WTO).

The point of the OGL isn't to give you more rights - you may very well be right, perhaps none of these things will get you sued succesffuly. It is to provide a safe haven. With the OGL, the judge is very likely to throw the suit out of court - there isn't even a prima facia case. Suing someone that uses the OGL is just not practical. This is just not the case with the murky depths of copyright law.
 

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