GSL-What happens when someone uses my OGC?

[Lizard]

Let us say I am the owner of, oh, Evoker games. I produce a book called the "Volume Of Monsters", which is 100% OGC. I decide to move on to 4e.

Another company, decrying the loss of the VoM for 3.5, takes all my OGC and publishes it, without my permission -- which he does not need and which I cannot deny. I have no financial relationship with this other company.

Am I in breach of the GSL?

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

Seems like a good environment for poaching old OGC.

 

[Brown Jenkin]

Am I in breach of the GSL?

No, only out of luck.

 

[Lizard]

It's an interesting conundrum. It seems that the 'no takebacks!' clause doesn't actually keep old products out of print (if they were all or mostly open), just keeps the original publisher from profiting from them. Obviously, anything released new for 4e is immune to this.

 

[kenmarable]

The flipside also might be interesting. I haven't nitpicked through both licenses to see if there is anything to it, but here's the hypothetical:

I have CompanyKen and released some 3.5 OGC monsters.

CompanyBob comes by, uses my monsters in their Castle DeathSkull adventure under the OGL.

CompanyBob then decides the GSL and 4e are the way to go, and use the conversion clause to convert their Castle DeathSkull adventure to 4e and licensed by the GSL. However, they are now using my monsters, originally released under the OGL in a product that is no longer licensed by the OGL.

Can I cry foul?

Again, I haven't picked through the licenses to see if this is addressed, but when I first say the "you're allowed to convert your products to GSL" clause in there, that was the first question that popped into my head - "Are they permitting CompanyBob to publish CompanyKen's OGC under a new license?"

 

[Lizard]

The flipside also might be interesting. I haven't nitpicked through both licenses to see if there is anything to it, but here's the hypothetical:

I have CompanyKen and released some 3.5 OGC monsters.

CompanyBob comes by, uses my monsters in their Castle DeathSkull adventure under the OGL.

CompanyBob then decides the GSL and 4e are the way to go, and use the conversion clause to convert their Castle DeathSkull adventure to 4e and licensed by the GSL. However, they are now using my monsters, originally released under the OGL in a product that is no longer licensed by the OGL.

Can I cry foul?

Again, I haven't picked through the licenses to see if this is addressed, but when I first say the "you're allowed to convert your products to GSL" clause in there, that was the first question that popped into my head - "Are they permitting CompanyBob to publish CompanyKen's OGC under a new license?"

I believe you can only convert OGC to which you own the copyright to a new license.

 

[jaldaen]

I believe you can only convert OGC to which you own the copyright to a new license.

What if you gave 3e rights to Publisher A, but retained the future rights of a product? Could you still do a 4e conversion of the material if Publisher A does not wish to go ahead with 4e's GSL, but Publisher B is willing to do so?

Would this allow for both versions to be sold at the same time? Would it deny the future rights holder the ability to go 4e because Publisher A doesn't want to convert?

These are interesting questions...

 

[jmucchiello]

As I said in another thread, S.3 does not require you to have sole ownership of the content you are placing into a Licensed Product.... yet.

 

[jaldaen]

As I said in another thread, S.3 does not require you to have sole ownership of the content you are placing into a Licensed Product.... yet.

If it ever did that would nix a whole bunch of coversion projects because so many d20 products reference other peoples' OGC in their section 15... the whole point of the OGL/OGC was to "open" the content. How can one have sole ownership of content (other than IP)that has been "opened"?

 

[Ourph]

CompanyBob comes by, uses my monsters in their Castle DeathSkull adventure under the OGL.

CompanyBob then decides the GSL and 4e are the way to go, and use the conversion clause to convert their Castle DeathSkull adventure to 4e and licensed by the GSL. However, they are now using my monsters, originally released under the OGL in a product that is no longer licensed by the OGL.

Can I cry foul?

Yes.

Are they permitting CompanyBob to publish CompanyKen's OGC under a new license?"

No. WotC don't have the right to license your OGC under a new license or allow anyone else to do the same. The only way Bob can use your OGC is by using the OGL and he's expressly forbidden from doing that in any product he is producing under the GSL. Bob would have to contact you and get a separate agreement from you to use your monster in his GSL product if that's what he wanted to do.