Are fan-created works bound by the OGL now?

[Bendris Noulg]

This brings up a question... My site has the OGL posted, but I am also a resident setting at a message board that serves (at the moment) four different fan-projects. While the settings have the OGL posted on their web sites as well, is it necessary to post it on the message board itself?

For additional information, all four settings maintain their own, independant web sites, while the message board we share is an EZBoard Gold Community.

Thoughts and opinions on this?

 

[Nightfall]

Edited for sake of keeping my mouth shut.

Much wisdom in such things Scott.

 

[Grazzt]

Much wisdom in such things Scott.

Agreed. I don't mind talking about the OGL and whatnot, but since the thread momentarily turned into yet another discussion on PCGen and their current status (shall we say), I chose the better part of saying anything else on the matter. This subject has been hashed and rehashed until it is beyond dead.

 

[Fast Learner]

We were talking about putting them on a website. That is distribution. We're talking about including Tome&Blood feats, that's outside the OGL. And fair use is not permission, it is a defense when you are taken to trial. Only a court can decide if your infringement falls under fair use or not. Just because a court declares the infringement fair use does stop it from being infringement. It merely stops it from being actionable. Thankfully you understand that but remember to take my comments in the context of the thread. Putting a tome&blood character on a website is a copyright infringement. It probably falls under fair use. It better not be mixed with OGC. We agree.

Your context was most certainly not clear, since the topic moved around quite a bit and includes discussion of PCGen. I feel it's inappropriate for you to say "Fan based creations are violations of copyright law. There is no doubt about that." It is not clear, and it's not fair to fans out there who might be scared away by your post, regardless of your acronyms.

BTW, you do not need to keep saying "IANAL" and "TINLA": it's not protecting you from anything and you are not going to get into any trouble if someone drags your non-acronymed post into court. "Your honor, I read this on a bulletin board on a D&D website." "Ah, I see. I'll have this guy prosecuted immediately."

 

[Morrus]

BTW, you do not need to keep saying "IANAL" and "TINLA": it's not protecting you from anything and you are not going to get into any trouble if someone drags your non-acronymed post into court. "Your honor, I read this on a bulletin board on a D&D website." "Ah, I see. I'll have this guy prosecuted immediately."

I don't want to speak for him, but the usual use of those acronyms isn't to protect the perosn who posted so much as to warn others to take their advice with a pinch of salt, seeing as they aren't legally qualified. Which you didn't do - presumably because you misunderstood the intention behind the acronym.

 

[jmucchiello]

I don't want to speak for him, but the usual use of those acronyms isn't to protect the perosn who posted so much as to warn others to take their advice with a pinch of salt, seeing as they aren't legally qualified. Which you didn't do - presumably because you misunderstood the intention behind the acronym.

Well spoken, Morrus.

Originally posted by Fast Learner
It is not clear, and it's not fair to fans out there who might be scared away by your post, regardless of your acronyms.

Shouldn't they be scared away? Does copyright law mean anything if it is flagrantly ignored? Are you willing to recommend that they disregard the law and do what they want? Those are rhetorical questions, BTW. This is not the correct forum to discuss copyright reform laws in. Besides, I wasn't intending to scare anyone away. My intent was for them to understand fully what they were doing before they did it.

...you are not going to get into any trouble if someone drags your non-acronymed post into court. "Your honor, I read this on a bulletin board on a D&D website." "Ah, I see. I'll have this guy prosecuted immediately."

I've seen sillier comments taken as legal advice on Internet forums before. CYA is very important acronym when involved in any discrussion that contains legal debate.

For example, I'll leave the acronyms off based on your advice, which you obviously implied was legal advice....

Joe Mucchiello
Throwing Dice Games
http://www.throwingdice.com

On a completely different level, is anyone else amused that both "HardHead" and "Fast Learner" are posting to this thread? It's raising my troll hackles but things remain civil so far.