Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is LIVE! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
Publishing Business & Licensing
Hello, I am lawyer with a PSA: almost everyone is wrong about the OGL and SRD. Clearing up confusion.
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 8883955" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>Just to follow up on S'mon's post:</p><p></p><p>You are asking about the thing he and I have been discussing, over the most recent page or two of this thread but also in other recent threads, and in earlier threads going back 10 years or so!</p><p></p><p>I think S'mon is probably right.</p><p></p><p>Part of what WotC has conferred on A in your scenario is a power to licence the OGC to B, which is what makes B's publication lawful vis-a-vis WotC's copyright in the SRD. Now WotC rescinds its standing offer to license the SRD under the OGL v 1.0a. I think the better view is S'mon's: because WotC can't unilaterally end any of these contracts, B continues to enjoy a contractual power to license the OGC to C.</p><p></p><p>Thus, to put it in colloquial terms, WotC can't put the genie back in the bottle.</p><p></p><p>The reason I'm more hesitant than S'mon is not for any concrete reason, but (i) another expert poster, who is more expert than me, was less certain than I had been up to that point, and than S'mon still is - and so I'm dialling back my own certainty a little bit; and (ii) there may be relevant principles of US copyright and licensing law that come into play in this sort of situation, and if there are I don't know about them! Admittedly no one has pointed to any such principles, but again I'm not wanting to be more certain than I feel my expertise permits.</p><p></p><p>TL;DR - I think S'mon is probably right.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 8883955, member: 42582"] Just to follow up on S'mon's post: You are asking about the thing he and I have been discussing, over the most recent page or two of this thread but also in other recent threads, and in earlier threads going back 10 years or so! I think S'mon is probably right. Part of what WotC has conferred on A in your scenario is a power to licence the OGC to B, which is what makes B's publication lawful vis-a-vis WotC's copyright in the SRD. Now WotC rescinds its standing offer to license the SRD under the OGL v 1.0a. I think the better view is S'mon's: because WotC can't unilaterally end any of these contracts, B continues to enjoy a contractual power to license the OGC to C. Thus, to put it in colloquial terms, WotC can't put the genie back in the bottle. The reason I'm more hesitant than S'mon is not for any concrete reason, but (i) another expert poster, who is more expert than me, was less certain than I had been up to that point, and than S'mon still is - and so I'm dialling back my own certainty a little bit; and (ii) there may be relevant principles of US copyright and licensing law that come into play in this sort of situation, and if there are I don't know about them! Admittedly no one has pointed to any such principles, but again I'm not wanting to be more certain than I feel my expertise permits. TL;DR - I think S'mon is probably right. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
Publishing Business & Licensing
Hello, I am lawyer with a PSA: almost everyone is wrong about the OGL and SRD. Clearing up confusion.
Top