Forked Thread: Does your v.3.5 fan site have the OGL attached to it?

[Mark]

In reality the ISP gets a C&D letter, they pull the plug on the content to avoid liability under the DMCA, it never goes to court. The actual content doesn't matter.

I know, I know. Said I was leaving . . .


What we have seen when WotC has decided to intervene, in the case of copyright infringement or trademark violation, a C&D was sent to the owner(s) and site(s) are shut down (I have no knowledge if other options were offered) but in the case of OGL violation, a breech and cure section of the license provides for 30 days to fix any problems to which WotC might object.

13 Termination: This License will terminate automatically if You fail to comply with all terms herein and fail to cure such breach within 30 days of becoming aware of the breach.

 

[Kerrick]

No, as WoTC informally stated a while back, the OGL was intended for publishers, not fans.

FWIW, I am a publisher AND a fan. My site has a complete system (sans character creation and advancement rules) based on the SRD, so it pretty well requires the OGL, IMO. Besides, I think it's simply good form - I fully intend and encourage others to use my material, and they'd find it much easier to do so if I have the OGL attached, with a proper S15.

Um, reproducing chunks of text from WoTC books is copyright infringement, pure and simple. Don't do it.

I figured as much, and I would never be that dumb.

What we have seen when WotC has decided to intervene, in the case of copyright infringement or trademark violation, a C&D was sent to the owner(s) and site(s) are shut down (I have no knowledge if other options were offered) but in the case of OGL violation, a breech and cure section of the license provides for 30 days to fix any problems to which WotC might object.

I've never heard of WotC shutting down sites over OGL violations... how flargant were they? I mean, I'm not disbelieving, just wondering how far they had to go to draw WotC's attention.

 

[Mark]

I've never heard of WotC shutting down sites over OGL violations... how flargant were they? I mean, I'm not disbelieving, just wondering how far they had to go to draw WotC's attention.

They don't, to my knowledge. The license provides for a 30 day period to fix any problems after being made aware of them. WotC does, however, send C&D letters over copyright and trademark violations, as we have even seen recently with a 4E related site, which can result in a site being shut down.

Violating trademarks or infringing on copyrights is not something a site should do with or without the OGL but if one is trying to error on the side or caution, one is afforded a lot more leeway with WotC (3.x) materials and also afforded some protections when using the OGL that one does not have without it.