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These kinds of folksy analogies can be deceptive, because they import the context of what was always gratuitous and revocable, and then apply them in a commercial context in ways in which that was never intended to be the case. To illustrate the point, let's change it up a bit. You are going...

Uhmmm.... no. I do not agree with this view. You are entitled to believe it if you want -- and tattoo it on your arm if you care to, but it is wrong in law, imo. The central issue is this: copyright protects expression; patents protect ideas. You need to mention A & B together, because it is...

Giving it a shot watching tonight/tomorrow Russ. I hope it went well for you!

Because when it comes to VTT software -- the amount of time it takes and the sheer number of people involved in a community like Foundry VTT leverages the large hold that D&D has on the hobby. I think the userbase for Foundry is about ~60% 5e 25% PF2, with the rest taken up by, well, a few...

I guess, looking back at that list and looking at the years I spent playing, even then, it was Rolemaster 10+years, PF1, 10+ years vs. 1st ed (4) 3.x (7) and 5e (1). That makes me a true outlier I guess.

The "I only play D&D" gamers are, similarly, people I have only encountered in forums, not among gamers I have met in real life in school, stores, or at conventions. I've been gaming for a very long time, since 1977 with OD&D -- and more or less continuously since 1980. In terms of campaigns I...

No, but I will not be buying more books there for the foreseeable future. I probably would have picked up 2 or 3 during the course of 2023 (because that's what I do by default - I buy gaming stuff!) but I won't be doing that now in the coming year. If I strike a Picard like pose and declare...

You should probably read the 61 pages you pointed me to. I'm the litigator in that thread who said there what I'm saying above. They probably aren't winning the case, and they are highly unlikely to win an injunction. That doesn't mean a defendant has no risk. "Probably" is another way of...

Respectfully, this is not the way it works in our legal system. It isn't the third party who have to put their "claims" to the test. A 3pp just goes and does what it wants to do, relying on the OGL 1.0a. It is incumbent on WotC to take the other guy to court and try to obtain an injunction. The...

It's worth remembering the circumstances under which the OGL was made: the AD&D brand had failed. TSR became insolvent and the entire RPG business, such as it was, was caught up in the paralysis of that event. Retailers were affected for ~nearly a year due to the "printer problem". WotC...

Anns v Merton was our tort divide, Bhasin v Hrynew is our contract divide, and our real property law has been distinct for a long while. Our Criminal law is dominated by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms; yours is dominated by a constitution that does not exist and a restraint on...

I think you are tilting at windmills now. This sort of careful analysis on non-legal language is, ultimately, a waste of effort and glia. The actual language of Not Open GL 1.1 will come soon enough. Save your efforts for that dive, I think.

FWIW, Erik Mona was apparently breathing FIRE when he rallied the Paizo troops yesterday at an all staff meeting. They were cheering him on via Facebook, too. Something's up. We'll wait and see.

No, I'm sorry -- you have it backwards. Paizo or Kobold don't have to take WotC to court. They just rely on the 1.0a OGL and do what they want to do. It's WotC who has to run off to court and try to get an injunction. And by now, if you read through 60+ pages here, you should have realized that...

Yeah, the Supreme Court of Canada is starting to roll their eyes at the English courts now. It used to be that when you cited a decision of the Court of Appeal or H.L. in front of a Canadian court, they would ask counsel why that presumptively would not be followed. It was a very serious...

You taking bets? Your sheep's entrails reading different from mine? We've been down this road before. It's easy to see, because it looks like another fork in the RPG edition road. "As we look ahead, it becomes even more important for our actions to represent our values. While we wait to see...

WotC can huff and puff and threaten to blow their house down. But they can't stop this in court with an injunction - they don't meet the legal test for it. The only thing WotC can really do that is practical and effective? That's to not let 5e go out of print. And a 5e that isn't out of print...

New? What makes you think this will be "new"? It's 2008 all over again. This will be 5.1 SRD based OGL 1.0a version of D&D 5.5e. This is Pathfinder redux.

Never mind Paizo jumping into create 5.5e -- it looks like Kobold is planning to do it with Project Black Flag. That didn't take long, did it? It's 2008 all over again. https://koboldpress.com/raising-our-flag/

That may be WotC's position -- the problem is that it is not a legally accurate position. The SRD 5.1 was released under the OGL 1.0a -- not maybe -- FOR SURE it was. They can't easily get rid of that 5.1 SRD legacy anymore than they can get rid of the SRD 3.5 legacy. The difference is, they...