95% of you didn't need the OGL and you don't need ORC

[mhd]

Didn't Gygax get sued because Dangerous Journeys "copied" D&D basically literally, like, having a First Aid skill, clearly based on the Cure Light Wounds spell? /s

 

[rcade]

Didn't Gygax get sued because Dangerous Journeys "copied" D&D basically literally, like, having a First Aid skill, clearly based on the Cure Light Wounds spell? /s

I'm having trouble seeing how Cure Light Wounds is so distinctive that another game having a healing spell under a different name would be an infringement. Every fantasy RPG I've ever played on a table or a computer had healing spells.

Gary Gygax believed TSR's lawsuit to stop Dangerous Journeys was meritless but the legal costs became so high that the parties reached a settlement. He also said the settlement entitled him to a six-figure payment from TSR.

 

[macd21]

I get that you don't understand the difference, but its pretty clear to most lawyers what the difference is.
The dragon stat blocks are copyright, you can't copy it word for word.

There’s more to it than not copying it word for word. Copyright doesn’t just protect against duplication, if also protects against derivative works. And no one is really clear on how that applies to RPG mechanics.

Yes, a good lawyer could probably help you avoid crossing that line. In fact, at least one company did just that: Kenzerco. But Kenzerco had the advantage of the head of the company being a lawyer. Other 3PPs can’t afford to have a lawyer check every product to make sure it won’t trigger a lawsuit.

For RPG companies in the nineties, it just wasn’t worth the risk. And then WotC announced the OGL, and suddenly the risk was gone. The legal technicalities were frankly less important than the promise that WotC wouldn’t sue.

 

[Greggy C]

How very prescient of Dancey to set up that trick, 15 years before DMsG was even a glint in WotC’s eye.

Of course it wasn’t.

 

[Reynard]

There’s more to it than not copying it word for word. Copyright doesn’t just protect against duplication, if also protects against derivative works. And no one is really clear on how that applies to RPG mechanics.

This. It hasn't been tested yet.

I imagine it will be, though, and soon.

 

[Greggy C]

Didn't Gygax get sued because Dangerous Journeys "copied" D&D basically literally, like, having a First Aid skill, clearly based on the Cure Light Wounds spell? /s

Thats far from any truth, it is hard to know where to begin. They certainly didn't want books running around that said
D&D
Gary Gygax.

 

[rcade]

View attachment 272689

You're missing the point. The OGL was created in 2000. Dungeon Masters Guild was launched in 2016. It would be chronologically impossible for the OGL to be a trick devised by WOTC to force people to share profits on their game content creations with DM Guild.

 

[mhd]

Thats far from any truth, it is hard to know where to begin.

My statement or theirs? I got it from here:

"(36) The "First Aid" skill in MYTHUS (pages 28 and 165) is
derived from the AD&D "Cure Light Wounds" spell in the AD&D 1st ed. PHB
(page 43) and the AD&D OA (page 57)."

Yeah, they didn't want a Gygaxian rival game, but the methods they used weren't really nice. I don't know how the case law in the last 30 years since that has moved on, but I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of the lawfare stick. Which is why I'm always a bit wary when it comes to "this clearly can't be copyrighted".

 

[Greggy C]

You're missing the point. The OGL was created in 2000. Dungeon Masters Guild was launched in 2016. It would be chronologically impossible for the OGL to be a trick devised by WOTC to force people to share profits on their game content creations with DM Guild.

Fair enough, lets call DMSGuild a cranked up version of OGL 1.1 where thousands of products give up 50% of their profits, even though they don't use any product identity. But I agree, that is on them.

 

[mamba]

The OP is straddling the line between bad take and misinformation. If a working share-a-like license held no value, there would be no controversy about the OGL changes. Either the totality of the TTRPG publishing world is entirely wrong about how they conduct business, or the OP is wrong.

The value might be entirely in not getting sued and finding out that way that the license was not needed in the first place