Hello, I am lawyer with a PSA: almost everyone is wrong about the OGL and SRD. Clearing up confusion.

[GMforPowergamers]

Sadly, it reminds me of the calls to boycott Disney/EA/Google/Amazon and others I'm probably forgetting. They're so big and ubiquitous that avoiding them is akin to quitting a given market.

Last year, Kellogg went on strike. Boycotts were called for, but trying to avoid all the various subsidiaries and such to honor the strike meant a lot of research into what brands were owned by them. Any similar boycott would be the same or more work. I'm not saying it's not doable, but the fact that you're going to have to convince collectors of dozens of unrelated brands to care is a Herculean task.

the thing is on a personal level I am sure some of us can try to make a list and do it... but most of us can't keep up with such a boycott.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

Why not use Creative Commons ? Heck, I'd say the OGL was a good start too, fix it up a little and you are good

take the idea and change it to update it. Make a creative commons OGL for things... but make sure Irrevocable is in there. But you have to keep it up to date every few years

 

[mamba]

OGL 1.0a is copyrighted by Wizards. No idea on CC.

yes, obviously you cannot just take it and change a few words, but if e.g. Paizo wanted to come up with their own open license now, I am sure it would not look all that different regardless.

 

[FrogReaver]

take the idea and change it to update it. Make a creative commons OGL for things... but make sure Irrevocable is in there. But you have to keep it up to date every few years

I'm not lawyer but I don't think it can say irrevocable if it says it can be terminated for not following license terms

 

[Nylanfs]

Is there an organization devoted to open RPG licenses? Because if not someone should start one and create an actual open license that can be used by the community that is not dependent on WOTC.

That is the Open Gaming Foundation that Ryan started. But it never really went anywhere. Maybe it will now.

 

[Yaarel]

That is the Open Gaming Foundation that Ryan started. But it never really went anywhere. Maybe it will now.

Here is a link to the Open Gaming Foundation:

OPEN GAMING FOUNDATION

opengamingfoundation.org

Where Ryan Dancey founded it, I trust it.

 

[Cadence]

Why not use Creative Commons ? Heck, I'd say the OGL was a good start too, fix it up a little and you are good

Does Creative Commons have anything like the product identity/open game split the OGL did? If someone wanted that, would they put a section at the end of online that was like an SRD excerpt that they would say was CC?

 

[overgeeked]

Does Creative Commons have anything like the product identity/open game split the OGL did? If someone wanted that, would they put a section at the end of online that was like an SRD excerpt that they would say was CC?

You could always include a notice specifically indicating what’s released under the CC license. AFAIK it’s not all or nothing.

 

[S'mon]

I'm not lawyer but I don't think it can say irrevocable if it says it can be terminated for not following license terms

"Irrevocable other than for breach".

 

[pemerton]

The archive of the mailing lists OGF-L and OGF-D20-L will have a lot of posts where he (and by extension WOTC) reassures RPG publishers that the license can be relied on forever.

My view is that, if arguing for an estoppel in the Australian context, these sorts of messages that are specific responses to specific queries, and/or that are individual-to-individual communications, would provide a firmer foundation than the generic FAQ.