D&D 5E Creative Commons and D&D

[overgeeked]

Still though, this introduces some complications for the CC that were not in the OGL. E.,g. if you change something significantly, there can be ambiguity in what is considered original and what is considered "the source."

Not really. That’s what the attribution is for. A pointer to the source. So people can simply look at the original and compare if they’re curious. You have copyright of your work and only you can release it under the CC.

Although perhaps in practice this is not a big deal. Similarly, since you don't have to enumerate what is and isn't taken from the SRD, the burden of that is left on future adapters of your derivative work to comb through the text should they want to make that distinction. Then again, I can't imagine many scenarios where that would be necessary.

Exactly.

 

[Cadence]

OK, so that part of what was tripping me up. Seemed that my former assumption was incorrect.


It seems that whatever license you apply a derived product, it ONLY applies to your "original" creation, not anything that is taken from the SRD (also mentioned in the CC FAQ, albeit somewhat hidden -- assuming I'm understanding it correctly). That makes sense!

Still though, this introduces some complications for the CC that were not in the OGL. E.,g. if you change something significantly, there can be ambiguity in what is considered original and what is considered "the source." Although perhaps in practice this is not a big deal. Similarly, since you don't have to enumerate what is and isn't taken from the SRD, the burden of that is left on future adapters of your derivative work to comb through the text should they want to make that distinction. Then again, I can't imagine many scenarios where that would be necessary.

@overgeeked covered the attribution in his reply above this one.

It feels like if one wants to share part (but not all) of their new product, the easiest thing is to make an SRD-like document that explicitly give the part they want to share and put it out under CC-BY, and leave the final polished document just under regular copyright.

 

[overgeeked]

@overgeeked covered the attribution in his reply above this one.

It feels like if one wants to share part (but not all) of their new product, the easiest thing is to make an SRD-like document that explicitly give the part they want to share and put it out under CC-BY, and leave the final polished document just under regular copyright.

Or mark it in some way. Like the product identity and open game content declaration of OGL books.

In the CC-BY attribution simply state that chapter X (except the examples) are also released under CC-BY. Or whatever.

Just that simple.

 

[Reynard]

Or mark it in some way. Like the product identity and open game content declaration of OGL books.

In the CC-BY attribution simply state that chapter X (except the examples) are also released under CC-BY. Or whatever.

Just that simple.

I am not a lawyer so I could be wrong, but reading the license doesn't seem to indicate you can apply it to part of a document you release under CC-BY 4.0. It seems to say that the entire document released under the l,icense is the licensed material, or at least I can't parse a provision that suggests otherwise.

 

[jmhimara]

I am not a lawyer so I could be wrong, but reading the license doesn't seem to indicate you can apply it to part of a document you release under CC-BY 4.0. It seems to say that the entire document released under the l,icense is the licensed material, or at least I can't parse a provision that suggests otherwise.

WotC did that on the previous draft. They only specified a certain range of pages as "released under CC-BY." I'm sure they consulted their lawyers, so I'd say it's definitely allowed.

 

[Cadence]

WotC did that on the previous draft. They only specified a certain range of pages as "released under CC-BY." I'm sure they consulted their lawyers, so I'd say it's definitely allowed.

That was where they said they were going to release those pages under CC - they had not done so yet, had they? I was guessing they were going to make a shorter document for when they actually were going to do so.

 

[jmhimara]

That was where they said they were going to release those pages under CC - they had not done so yet, had they? I was guessing they were going to make a shorter document for when they actually were going to do so.

I guess that's a good point. Nevertheless, I'm pretty sure you can do it. Or at least I've seen it done before. For instance, I've seen magazines where only certain article are available under CC, but not the entire magazine. I'm also looking at my copy of For Gold & Glory, which is released under OGL, but they make parts of their Product Identity content available under CC-BY-SA, all in the same book. It makes sense that it would be possible to do so.

 

[Cadence]

I guess that's a good point. Nevertheless, I'm pretty sure you can do it. Or at least I've seen it done before. For instance, I've seen magazines where only certain article are available under CC, but not the entire magazine. I'm also looking at my copy of For Gold & Glory, which is released under OGL, but they make parts of their Product Identity content available under CC-BY-SA, all in the same book. It makes sense that it would be possible to do so.

I had no idea. Googling gave this other example about something applying to only a part.

Licensing Your Open Textbook – Queen's Open Textbook Authoring Guide

ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub

 

[Reynard]

I had no idea. Googling gave this other example about something applying to only a part.

Licensing Your Open Textbook – Queen's Open Textbook Authoring Guide

ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub

Reading through the various FAQs on the site it doesn't seem to come up at all. That leads me to believe that it is all about how you label it. Of you said "all statblocks in this book are released under CC-BY" that would be fine and ultimately up to.you to enforce if something weird happened. So that really makes me start to wonder what value an OGL or ORC has compared to CC.

 

[bedir than]

@overgeeked lots of great learning in this thread. Thanks for your patient examples