Cortex Fan License Published

The fan license which allows you to create free material for Cortex Prime was announced by Fandom yesterday.

Fandom acquired the Cortex Prime system recently, and is also the owner of D&D Beyond.

The announcement was greeted with negative feedback about its restrictions by the community. The Community License grants ownership of any mechanics created under the license (but not 'lore' such as names, art, fiction, etc.) Additionally, Fandom can terminate the license at any time. The usage of the Cortex Prime mechanics is limited in that fans cannot "decompile, disassemble, or reverse engineer the Cortex System, or any component thereof, by any means whatsoever."

In the comments under the announcement, Fandom confirmed that fan creations could not be distributed via DriveThruRPG or Itch.io because those platforms "grants them rights to specific parts of the content, including content that the community license does not grant you the rights to." I'm not familiar with Itch's terms, but DTRPG doesn't acquire any rights to content distributed on the platform.

Fandom does confirm in the comments that people can create their own versions of the Cortex mechanics without using the license; but by doing so you can't call it Cortex or use the resources Fandom provides. Mechanics in themselves cannot be copyrighted, but the expression (the text used) to describe them can.

Those wishing to sell their work will be able to use the Cortex Creator Studio, which will become available at a later date. The commercial license requires an application.

 

[darjr]

But if I were to use the fan license they then would get ownership of any mechanics? By agreement?

 

[darjr]

Is Cortex not OGL?

 

[Morrus]

But if I were to use the fan license they then would get ownership of any mechanics? By agreement?

That's the weird bit. The terms say yes, but you can't give them something that neither you not they can legally own. Nobody can own the mechanics. I assume they must have meant the text which expresses the mechanics.

 

[timbannock]

Is Cortex not OGL?

It is not.

 

[eyeheartawk]

I could go into detail how this is dumb on several levels.

Instead, I will just repost the top reply in that Twitter thread. It really is thorough and encapsulates everything wrong with this license.
Mod Edit:

Removed screenshot containing profanity.

 

[Grantypants]

But if I were to use the fan license they then would get ownership of any mechanics? By agreement?

Kind of. Under US Intellectual Property law, "systems" (including game mechanics) are not protected by copyright, but the specific wording of those mechanics can be. So you could publish a book with an original dice pool mechanic, and the text of your book would be under copyright, but someone else could still write their own book and incorporate your dice pool system, as long as they phrased your system in their own words. And if there is not another way to explain your rule, other people can use your original wording, even though your book remains under copyright.

Is Cortex not OGL?

No. The OGL is specific to Wizards of the Coast and D&D. Edit: Turns out I was wrong. The OGL was written by Wizards of the Coast for D&D but has been used by other publishers for games not based on D&D. However, Cortex is not one of them.

That said, there are other considerations besides what the law says. If Fandom sues you for violating this license, sure, you might eventually win the case, but you still have to spend months or even years going to court and paying for your lawyers. That's money and time you won't get back, even if the court rules in your favor. If you have that kind of free time and cash to burn, good for you, but nobody making third party supplements for Cortex games is making enough money from them to make fighting this sort of case worthwhile.

 

[Umbran]

...fans cannot "decompile, disassemble, or reverse engineer the Cortex System, or any component thereof, by any means whatsoever.

I mean, they don't have to, because the mechanics are right there, in the book, and not in themselves covered by copyright.

Unless they are considering this to cover their electronic tools, in which case this is not remarkable in any way.

 

[Morrus]

No. The OGL is specific to Wizards of the Coast and D&D.

It is not. The OGL has been used by many companies for many game systems over the last 20 years.

 

[Umbran]

No. The OGL is specific to Wizards of the Coast and D&D.

That is incorrect. Evil Hat Games has released several non-d20 titles under the OGL, for example.