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

[rcade]

That only means it uses the license, not that it is derived from the SRD

It is not required to put the System Reference Document in Section 15 of an OGL licensed work.

The only reason to list the SRD there is to indicate that your work is derived from it.

There are OGL-licensed games that do not include the WOTC SRD in Section 15. An example is D6 Fantasy:

Section 15

Open Game License v 1.0 Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast,

D6 Fantasy (WEG 51013), Copyright 2004, Purgatory Publishing Inc

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

"Hey, dumb-dumbs, I watched two YouTube videos. Let me tell you how much more I know about all of this than you guys."

 

[mamba]

It is not required to put the System Reference Document in Section 15 of an OGL licensed work.

The only reason to list the SRD there is to indicate that your work is derived from it.

There are OGL-licensed games that do not include the WOTC SRD in Section 15. An example is OpenD6 Fantasy.

Fair, but that still does not mean Starfinder is derived from it, as according to Paizo it is a completely separate system (I do not know it so cannot argue either way)

 

[Alzrius]

Fair, but that still does not mean Starfinder is derived from it, as according to Paizo it is a completely separate system (I do not know it so cannot argue either way)

I'm pretty sure that's what Paizo said about PF2, not Starfinder. (Even then, having the 3E SRD in their Section 15 kind of looks like an admission that it uses Open Game Content from said SRD, so I'm not sure how well the idea of "it's not really a derivative game at all; we just used the OGL for compatibility" will fly. If that were the case, they could have used the OGL without adding a copyright notice for the SRD.)

 

[rcade]

Fair, but that still does not mean Starfinder is derived from it, as according to Paizo it is a completely separate system (I do not know it so cannot argue either way)

Paizo describes Starfinder as being built on Pathfinder which was built on the SRD.

 

[mamba]

Paizo describes Starfinder as being built on Pathfinder which was built on the SRD.

Yes, but they also said this in the announcement

"Of course, Paizo plans to continue publishing Pathfinder and Starfinder, even as we move away from the Open Gaming License. Since months’ worth of products are still at the printer, you’ll see the familiar OGL 1.0(a) in the back of our products for a while yet. While the Open RPG Creative License is being finalized, we’ll be printing Pathfinder and Starfinder products without any license, and we’ll add the finished license to those products when the new license is complete."

So they do not seem to believe that they need it

 

[Umbran]

The OGL was a trick to force you on DMSGuild to give away half your profits.

Dude, the OGL was published in 2000.
DMs Guild was launched in 2016.
And the stuff on DMs Guild is under a different license anyway.

They played a long game, for a decade an a half, through two edition changes, to trick you into... a different license altogether? Not the least plausible thing I've seen on this site, but we talk about dragons and teleporting a lot.

 

[rcade]

Yes, but they also said this in the announcement

"Of course, Paizo plans to continue publishing Pathfinder and Starfinder, even as we move away from the Open Gaming License. Since months’ worth of products are still at the printer, you’ll see the familiar OGL 1.0(a) in the back of our products for a while yet. While the Open RPG Creative License is being finalized, we’ll be printing Pathfinder and Starfinder products without any license, and we’ll add the finished license to those products when the new license is complete."

So they do not seem to believe that they need it

When you've created a game derived from the SRD and licensed under the OGL, you can only publish it without the license by replacing everything protected by copyright that was derived from the SRD. Otherwise you're publishing something that you have already admitted is a derivative work without a license to publish it.

If Paizo believes it has achieved this prior to Hasbro's attack on the OGL, it is unfortunate that it kept the System Reference Document in Section 15 of the books it published.

I think Paizo is better prepared to chew its leg off to escape Hasbro's bear trap than most SRD reusers. Its games are full of unique IP that is nothing like the SRD. But I'll be amazed if things are as simple as "we'll just print without the license."

 

[Maxperson]

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.

You do understand that most content producers are not lawyers and cannot afford to hire one, right?

 

[Maxperson]

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.

I own Dangerous Journeys and while I know how to play D&D, I still don't know exactly how to play it. It's confusing as hell and very different. I'm inclined to believe Gygax on his claim that the suit was meritless.