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

[MGibster]

Also? It seems like work. I'm more into unicorns and stuff.

That's just sick.

 

[DavyGreenwind]

Wait, you're speaking to open licensing rules but you stay away from open software, where all the court cases about open licensing can be found?

I'm going to give some genuine advice which you're free to ignore - you're making a mistake by speaking with authority on this topic. This is a complicated field and if you don't know open licensing software caselaw, you're probably a tad outside your areas of legal focus as there is a great deal of overlap.

As a matter of open licensing jurisprudence, those cases are indeed important. My comments about software being a can of worms is more about the copyright aspect (source code vs object code and all that nonsense).

So you are right, case law regarding open software is important in licensing context. Here's one holding licenses without a specific duration are terminable at will: Walthal v. Rusk, 172 F.3d 481 (7th Cir.1999). Here's another: Korman v. HBC Fla., Inc., 182 F.3d 1291, 1297 (11th Cir. 1999).

Here's some jurisprudence stating that, essentially, open licenses are a revocable permission: 25 AM. JUR. 2D Easements and Licenses § 122 (2011); 53 C.J.S. Licenses § 143 (2011).

I don't speak with authority about what is, but rather what isn't. I am responding to the people who say they are certain that WotC cannot revoke the license. My bottom line is that they likely can. I just don't see them losing that litigation.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

That's just sick.

 

[DavyGreenwind]

Three lawyers, four opinions.

Same as it ever was.

But only one of us has cited any sources.

 

[DavyGreenwind]

I think OP underestimated how many other lawyer nerds frequent EN World.

It is a pleasant surprise!

 

[RangerWickett]

as a non lawyer (unless you count rules lawyer) I find it facinating that two people read legal documents and statutes and run into the same thing we do all day everyday on this very site... we have similar training/background, read the same text, and get two opposing answers.

Look, there is no rule that says that I have to fall when I stand over an empty space. If the rulebook doesn't say that I fall when I set off a cliff, I think I should be allowed to walk across thin air.

 

[overgeeked]

Three lawyers, four opinions.

Same as it ever was.

What I'm getting from this thread is: it all comes down to a judge deciding in your favor. Which means either you have the money to fight a long legal battle against Hasbro, or you roll over and don't bother.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

What I'm getting from this thread is: it all comes down to a judge deciding in your favor. Which means either you have the money to fight a long legal battle against Hasbro, or you roll over and don't bother.

Eh, not exactly? It's hard to just sit around and debate abstractions without making them more concrete with, you know, facts, like actual analysis of the prior OGL, the new OGL, the theory that Hasbro is using, and the jurisdiction(s) that are at play.

It's sort of like this- people can argue about something like "a statute of limitations," and what that means, and the difference between that and a statute of repose. But until you know the cause of action (what SOL applies) and what jurisdiction, and other important issues (could there be equitable tolling?) it's hard to address an issue definitively.

Most legal issues are fairly predictable. But as one good friend explained to me- they don't pay the lawyers the really big bucks to explain the black letter law; any half-wit that passed the bar should be able to do that. Instead, the big bucks go to the people who understand the black letter law and can successfully argue why it doesn't apply to their client in this case.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

I would assume it would be much easier to create a new Pathfinder 3rd edition system from scratch.

they had a card game out I liked... they could use that as a framework

 

[Reynard]

If WotC did (try to) revoke the OGL, the gaming community would need to migrate to a new gaming engine that did offer an irrevocable license. And build new settings and features.

Without an installed user base on the order of D&D's, that's a non-starter.