Hello, I am lawyer with a PSA: almost everyone is wrong about the OGL and SRD. Clearing up confusion.

[pemerton]

The new one: WotC Talks OGL...Again!

OK, I read that post. It seems consistent with my posts just above. @Steel_Wind is not using "de-authorization" as a term of art, as best I read his post. And he doesn't actually set out an argument as to how WotC might achieve what it wants to achieve - he just states the result.

The interpretive argument I've set out is the best one I know of that actually produces, in a legally reasoned manner, the result that WotC appears to be aspiring to.

(Of course I haven't considered the extent to which matters that sit outside the licence - like the FAQ and other conduct by WotC and its officers - might bear upon the interpretive questions. That's part of why I do not suggest that my argument is sound, or even likely - just that it seems to me not hopeless.)

 

[Greg Benage]

ETA: In answer to the "potation" question. I should have quoted.

 

[pemerton]

Okay, this is a tangent, but something I just noticed:


"Potation"? Doesn't that just mean "drinking"? I thought maybe it had a second meaning I was unaware of, but I checked several dictionaries, including the online Merriam-Webster dictionary, the Oxford English Dictionary, and Wiktionary, and none of them listed another meaning that wasn't related to drinking. How do you... drink Open Game Content? Does "potation" have some other special meaning in legalese that none of these dictionaries mention? Or if not, what on Earth is that word doing there?

I think the general view is that it's a typo for "portation".

 

[Jerik]

ETA: In answer to the "potation" question. I should have quoted.

OK, I thought it must have been addressed before somewhere; I just hadn't seen it. But as I said, I consulted several dictionaries (including the Oxford English Dictionary, which is pretty darn exhaustive) and none of them listed that meaning.

I think the general view is that it's a typo for "portation".

Ah, that makes more sense. (Or rather, that makes the quote from Ryan Dancey make more sense.) That would fit the definition given in Ryan Dancey's quote; they apparently just left out a letter by mistake. So anyway, I guess strictly by the words of the license, if you try drinking any Open Game Content you're in trouble...

Anyway, sorry for the tangent. Carry on.

 

[The Stray]

EDIT: I've worked out you're talking about that thread, not this thread - apologies for the confusion! But I'm not sure which thread is that thread.

Who's on first?

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

yeah, that was horrendously decided by subject illiterate judges. No case is so bulletproof that a moron in a robe cannot have you snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Quite frankly, if this is the law and the judge ruled correctly, the law needs changing yesterday.

Right, and that was what I was essentially arguing. Anyone who thinks they have an open-and-shut legally airtight case in which copyright, or even contract law is involved, that person is a fool. Couple that with the fact that most foolish people think they're right, and are often not wise enough to be able to gauge in a reasonable rational way, and you have the makings of an epic beatdown. Corporations OTOH TEND to be pretty rational, certainly in cost/benefit analysis terms. Not always right, by any means, but there are VERY few cases where a multi-billion dollar enterprise went off the wall and sued someone just because they "thought they were right."

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

ETA: In answer to the "potation" question. I should have quoted.
View attachment 273037

That’s wrong. It’s a typo. The correct word is actually portation.

 

[Greg Benage]

That’s wrong. It’s a typo. The correct word is actually portation.

Don't shoot the messenger!

Though it's amusing to imagine the conversation:

Ryan Dancey: Hey, what the hell is "potation"? Is that a typo? We just released this into the wild!

Brian Lewis (squinting at text): Eh, no, not a typo. Legal term of art. Don't worry about it.

 

[masdog]

Don't shoot the messenger!

Though it's amusing to imagine the conversation:

Ryan Dancey: Hey, what the hell is "potation"? Is that a typo? We just released this into the wild!

Brian Lewis (squinting at text): Eh, no, not a typo. Legal term of art. Don't worry about it.

WotC/Hasbro Lawyers: We found our loophole, the whole contract is invalid. /kidding

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Don't shoot the messenger!

Though it's amusing to imagine the conversation:

Ryan Dancey: Hey, what the hell is "potation"? Is that a typo? We just released this into the wild!

Brian Lewis (squinting at text): Eh, no, not a typo. Legal term of art. Don't worry about it.

i can tell you what happened.

Brian Lewis borrowed the definitions section from a software open license. He ran it through a spellchecker. The spellchecker changed the word to potation.

And no one actually understood the original term and was able to catch it. Happens a lot.

Why do lawyers write like that: Worrying about the OGL (Part 3)

So we are now on part 3 of the occasional series on the law- again, this is a general explainer about litigation, but has application to TTRPGs due to the current kerfuffle over the OGL. How to Do Your Own Legal Research: Worried about the OGL? Law is Hard: Worried About the OGL (Part 2)...

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