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

[Maxperson]

‘Distribute your own OGC under the OGL.’ does not make you a licensee, it makes you a licensor. You might also be a licensee, but then that is not because of distributing OGC content.

WotC doesn't even distribute its own stuff under the OGL. They're not writing all the stuff the OGL requires when they use their content in their books.

 

[FrogReaver]

It's pretty clear that they can unilaterally cease to distribute (small D) their OGC though.

Agreed. But that doesn’t stop other licensees from distributing it as long as it was OGC.

 

[Maxperson]

No. By using OGC you become a licensee. Distributing OGC is defined as ‘use’. Therefore distributing OGC (even your own) makes you a licensee.

They aren't using the OGL to do it, so those terms do not apply to WotC. They apply to everyone else who takes a brownie.

 

[FrogReaver]

WotC doesn't even distribute its own stuff under the OGL. They're not writing all the stuff the OGL requires when they use their content in their books.

The do for the 5.1 SRD.

 

[FrogReaver]

They aren't using the OGL to do it,

Yes they are.

What you mean is they could distributed a 5.1 SRD without the OGL and I agree. But they chose to use the OGL to do it.

so those terms do not apply to WotC. They apply to everyone else who takes a brownie.

Since they used the OGL the OGLs terms do apply to them.

 

[Maxperson]

The do for the 5.1 SRD.

Really? Open up any book they've put out. All of it uses SRD 5.1 content. None of it includes a copy of the license. YOU are required to put in a copy of the license as required by the OGL, because you have to use the OGL to use the SRD content. They do not.

 

[mamba]

The do for the 5.1 SRD.

explain how

 

[Aspirinsmurf]

They aren't using the OGL to do it, so those terms do not apply to WotC. They apply to everyone else who takes a brownie.

Under the doctrine of first sale, I'm obviously allowed to take you up on your brownie offer and then resell it. Can you contort your metaphor into being about something like the right to copy your specific expression of a brownie recipe instead?

The only real question here is whether or not we can keep sublicensing WotC's OGC to each other after WotC has revoked the initial offer. I think there are good reasons for why we should be able to so, and I'm pretty sure that the drafter intended for this to be the case.

I would, however, like to hear any and all arguments against that being the case.

 

[mamba]

WotC doesn't even distribute its own stuff under the OGL. They're not writing all the stuff the OGL requires when they use their content in their books.

I was talking about publishing the SRD there

 

[FrogReaver]

The OGL isn’t hundreds of separate offers from each individual copyright holder. It’s one offer for all OGC.