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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.
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<blockquote data-quote="AbdulAlhazred" data-source="post: 8899234" data-attributes="member: 82106"><p>The problem that would be addressed is the stewardship problem. That is, with OGL WotC 'owns' the OGL, and as a commercial entity with a certain interest in the business, they are not a neutral party. Through section 9 they retain the right to issue new versions of OGL, which could potentially be ANYTHING AT ALL, and to license your OGC under that new license! This makes them a dominant player in the relationship, not an equal one. By vesting both the copyright of the license and the ability to update the license (which is something in this changing world that will almost certainly be needed at some point) in a non-commercial impartial entity they put everyone using the license on the same footing. Any true, enduring, open license should have this basis, as experience has shown that without it one is vulnerable to exploitation, which DOES happen!</p><p></p><p>Sure, but why would I EVER use OGL when WotC could simply change its terms at any time? I don't know anything about the Chaosium License, but I agree with you anything like that or perhaps ORC might have similar problems. Paizo's statements about creating a neutral steward for the ORC would seem to make it better than OGL in some sense however. OTOH unless WotC becomes signatory to ORC, which seems unlikely at this point, it seems to offer limited appeal. I honestly still don't see why I wouldn't just go with CC-BY-SA instead. In theory I guess OGL/ORC includes a strong "hands off product identity" clause, but you can exclude PI from CC and at that point your normal IP rights (Copyright, Trademark, Design Patents, etc.) still exist, along with such things as moral rights, etc. Enforcing ANYTHING is a matter of resources anyway, whether it is OGL or a Copyright, so how does ORC/OGL make me substantively better off here? Yes, someone could use my PI in a 'fair use/fair dealing' manner, but that is a pretty narrow exception for a commercial kind of product!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="AbdulAlhazred, post: 8899234, member: 82106"] The problem that would be addressed is the stewardship problem. That is, with OGL WotC 'owns' the OGL, and as a commercial entity with a certain interest in the business, they are not a neutral party. Through section 9 they retain the right to issue new versions of OGL, which could potentially be ANYTHING AT ALL, and to license your OGC under that new license! This makes them a dominant player in the relationship, not an equal one. By vesting both the copyright of the license and the ability to update the license (which is something in this changing world that will almost certainly be needed at some point) in a non-commercial impartial entity they put everyone using the license on the same footing. Any true, enduring, open license should have this basis, as experience has shown that without it one is vulnerable to exploitation, which DOES happen! Sure, but why would I EVER use OGL when WotC could simply change its terms at any time? I don't know anything about the Chaosium License, but I agree with you anything like that or perhaps ORC might have similar problems. Paizo's statements about creating a neutral steward for the ORC would seem to make it better than OGL in some sense however. OTOH unless WotC becomes signatory to ORC, which seems unlikely at this point, it seems to offer limited appeal. I honestly still don't see why I wouldn't just go with CC-BY-SA instead. In theory I guess OGL/ORC includes a strong "hands off product identity" clause, but you can exclude PI from CC and at that point your normal IP rights (Copyright, Trademark, Design Patents, etc.) still exist, along with such things as moral rights, etc. Enforcing ANYTHING is a matter of resources anyway, whether it is OGL or a Copyright, so how does ORC/OGL make me substantively better off here? Yes, someone could use my PI in a 'fair use/fair dealing' manner, but that is a pretty narrow exception for a commercial kind of product! [/QUOTE]
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Hello, I am lawyer with a PSA: almost everyone is wrong about the OGL and SRD. Clearing up confusion.
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