WotC Announces OGL 1.1 -- Revised Terms, Royalties, and Annual Revenue Reporting

There has been a lot of speculation recently about WotC's plans regarding the Open Gaming License and the upcoming One D&D. Today, WotC shared some information.

In short, they will be producing a new Open Gaming License (note that the previous OGL 1.0a will still exist, and can still be used). However, for those who use the new OGL 1.1, which will be released in early 2023, there will be some limitations added with regards the type of product which can use it, and -- possibly controversially -- reporting to WotC your annual OGL-related revenue.

They are also adding a royalty for those third party publishers who make more than $750K per year.

Interestingly, only books and 'static electronic files' like ebooks and PDFs will be compatible with the new OGL, meaning that apps, web pages, and the like will need to stick to the old OGL 1.0a.

There will, of course, be a lot of debate and speculation over what this actually means for third party creators, and how it will affect them. Some publishers like Paizo (for Pathfinder) and others will likely simply continue to use the old OGL. The OGL 1.0a allows WotC to update the license, but allows licensees to continue to use previous versions "to copy, modify and distribute any Open Game Content originally distributed under any version of this License".

OGLs, SRDs, & One D&D

We love the interest and passion the community has for D&D. We love D&D, too. So, when we see the D&D community concerned by rumors and misu...

www.dndbeyond.com

1. Will One D&D include an SRD/be covered by an OGL?

Yes. First, we’re designing One D&D with fifth edition backwards compatibility, so all existing creator content that is compatible with fifth edition will also be compatible with One D&D. Second, we will update the SRD for One D&D as we complete its development—development that is informed by the results of playtests that we’re conducting with hundreds of thousands of D&D players now.

2. Will the OGL terms change?

Yes. We will release version 1.1 of the OGL in early 2023.

The OGL needs an update to ensure that it keeps doing what it was intended to do—allow the D&D community’s independent creators to build and play and grow the game we all love—without allowing things like third-parties to mint D&D NFTs and large businesses to exploit our intellectual property.

So, what’s changing?

First, we’re making sure that OGL 1.1 is clear about what it covers and what it doesn’t. OGL 1.1 makes clear it only covers material created for use in or as TTRPGs, and those materials are only ever permitted as printed media or static electronic files (like epubs and PDFs). Other types of content, like videos and video games, are only possible through the Wizards of the Coast Fan Content Policy or a custom agreement with us. To clarify: Outside of printed media and static electronic files, the OGL doesn’t cover it.

Will this affect the D&D content and services players use today? It shouldn’t. The top VTT platforms already have custom agreements with Wizards to do what they do. D&D merchandise, like minis and novels, were never intended to be part of the OGL and OGL 1.1 won’t change that. Creators wishing to leverage D&D for those forms of expression will need, as they always have needed, custom agreements between us.

Second, we’re updating the OGL to offer different terms to creators who choose to make free, share-alike content and creators who want to sell their products.

What does this mean for you as a creator? If you’re making share-alike content, very little is going to change from what you’re already used to.

If you’re making commercial content, relatively little is going to change for most creators. For most of you who are selling custom content, here are the new things you’ll need to do:

1. Accept the license terms and let us know what you’re offering for sale
2. Report OGL-related revenue annually (if you make more than $50,000 in a year)
3. Include a Creator Product badge on your work

When we roll out OGL 1.1, we will also provide explanatory videos, FAQs, and a web portal for registration to make navigating these requirements as easy and intuitive as possible. We’ll also have help available to creators to navigate the new process.

For the fewer than 20 creators worldwide who make more than $750,000 in income in a year, we will add a royalty starting in 2024. So, even for the creators making significant money selling D&D supplements and games, no royalties will be due for 2023 and all revenue below $750,000 in future years will be royalty-free.

Bottom line: The OGL is not going away. You will still be able to create new D&D content, publish it anywhere, and game with your friends and followers in all the ways that make this game and community so great. The thousands of creators publishing across Kickstarter, DMsGuild, and more are a critical part of the D&D experience, and we will continue to support and encourage them to do that through One D&D and beyond.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Agreed, unless you absolutely want to use WotC IP.

There's a baffling amount of stuff sold on DMs Guild that uses no protected content at all.

 

[Uta-napishti]

If the new stuff is released under an iteration of the Open Game License (which is what WotC's press release is making it sound like, calling it OGL v1.1 and all), then the Section 9 from the existing versions of the OGL will apply. If they make a new license, though, then the OGL wouldn't apply.

Open source software licenses that say "you can use this work under this lisence, or any future version of this lisence" for instance the GPL are actually applied to the work in question. The clause you are relying on in 1.0a will not be the governing license for OneDnD because OneDnD will never be released under it. You can't write a lisence that says, this lisence applies to work that was never released under this lisence or any other work under other versions of this license. Those clauses need to be in a lisence actually attached to the work, not some other version. I.E. it's quite easy to make a version of the OGL that siloes itself off by itself not having that clause, and only that version of the OGL will apply to the given work.

 

[Alzrius]

Open source lisences that say "you can use this work under this lisence, or any future version of this lisence" are actually applied to the work in question. You can't write a lisence that says, this lisence applies to work that was never release under the lisence. I.E. it's quite easy to make a version of the OGL that siloes itself off by itself not having that clause, and only that version of the OGL will apply to the given work. You can't write a lisence that applies itself to works that were never lisenced under it.

The thing of it is, they're not writing a license that says "this applies to work never released under the license." Section 9 is very clear in that it applies to Open Game Content released under any versions of the OGL. So long as a future license identifies itself as being an iteration of the Open Game License, then you can use Open Game Content released under it with prior versions of the OGL.

Any Open Game Content released under any version of the OGL, in other words, can be used with any other version of the OGL.

 

[Uta-napishti]

There's a baffling amount of stuff sold on DMs Guild that uses no protected content at all.

They are effectively giving WoTC copyright for their work in exchange for eyeballs

The thing of it is, they're not writing a license that says "this applies to work never released under the license." Section 9 is very clear in that it applies to Open Game Content released under any versions of the OGL. So long as a future license identifies itself as being an iteration of the Open Game License, then you can use Open Game Content released under it with prior versions of the OGL.

Any Open Game Content released under any version of the OGL, in other words, can be used with any other version of the OGL.

Yeah except that Section 9, regardless of what is says, doesn't apply to works that weren't released under a lisence that contains Section 9. We'll see what 1.1 has in it.

 

[Alzrius]

Yeah except that Section 9, regardless of what is says, doesn't apply to works that weren't released under a lisence that contains Section 9. We'll see what 1.1 has in it.

I'm dubious of the idea that the OGL v1.1 will need to reproduce Section 9 in order for Open Game Content published under it to be used with prior versions of the license. That said, you're right that we'll see what v1.1 looks like soon enough.

 

[Nylanfs]

So it seems I was remembering the OGL FAQ from back in the day that said it was possible but in order to comply with the license the SRD info had to be accessible. The link directly to the FAQ seems to be broken but a few different searches shows the same thing:

The original Gentleman's Agreement that was used before the OGL was finalized and published and the earliest FAQ's stated that the OGC data HAD to be human readable so that it could be used by another publisher. This is the exact reason why PCGen's engine is licensed under the LGPL, and the data that drives the engine is all plain text files and every book has the OGL with it and proper Sec. 15 lines.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

They are effectively giving WoTC copyright for their work in exchange for eyeballs

Most of these folks don't seem to be that sophisticated. For many of them, they just assume DMs Guild is the place to publish, probably because they don't use DriveThruRPG themselves or know that a creator's content feed on both sites shows items from both sides.

(In other words, the way to play it is to produce something for DMs Guild that does use protected IP and will get people to check it out, and then have a whole lot more in their feed on DriveThruRPG that the site will also tell customers they created. Some of the bigger sellers seem to be following this exact strategy.)

 

[codo]

That is nice and all, but this is starting to feel like the jump from 3.0 to 3.5. They were supposed to be backward-compatible also, but as soon as 3.5 was out, sales started to tank for anything 3.0 from 3PPs. That will happen again when the revised rules tied to the new OGL come out in 2024. People will want stuff they don't have to adjust or fix before they can use it, so all that old 5E stuff using the old OGL will just die off. Note, I am talking about stuff published to use with the Core Books, not stuff with their own setting/rules that use the OGL as a basis.

3rd edition and 5th edition are very different games. 3rd and 3.5 are much more complicated, and they have a lot more small fiddley pieces that interact with each other. 5e on the other hand involves fewer options, and the options you do choose tend to be larger and more self contained.

Look at feats. What is 1 feat in 5E, in 3E will be a feat chain of 3 or 4 feats, each with its own class, skill, level, and other prerequisites.

The reason that most people didn't really think that 3E 3PP books were backward compatible with 3.5 is that so many of them referred to specific detailed rules, like specific feats or class features, that had slightly changed between the editions. This actually made a lot of them difficult to use.

Because 5E's rules are less interconnected, detailed, and fine-grained the 3PP books should be more compatible with 1D&D. Truthfully I don't buy all that many 3PP book, but most of ones I have looked at mostly contain things like are campaign settings, adventures, a bunch of subclasses for existing classes, monsters, or specific detailed subsystems for things like base building, naval combat, or more detailed and varied weapons and the like. Most of the books I have looked at seem like they should be more or less backward compatible with 1d&D.

 

[Uta-napishti]

Also, notice that now videos, websites and other media other than print are not going to be allowed to use OGL 1.1 content.
That means no competing with D&D Beyond kids, No Level Up Tools website next time, and also that there might never be another Critical Role (at least there will not be using OneDnD or later) --- this deal keeps getting worse all the time!

 

[Alzrius]

Also, notice that now videos, websites and other media other than print are not going to be allowed to use OGL 1.1 content.
That means no competing with D&D Beyond kids, No Level Up Tools website next time, and also that there might never be another Critical Role (at least there will not be using OneDnD or later) --- this deal keeps getting worse all the time!

Does it? I've never actually sat down and watched an episode of Critical Role, but I don't think that they or any other actual-play series ever used the OGL, did they?