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Message: <blockquote data-quote="madelf" data-source="post: 2808023" data-attributes="member: 15415">It really doesn't matter if the OGL trumps copyright. What you are encouraging, by doing things the way you are, is for people to bypass the OGL entirely when it comes to adapting your stuff. They can do the same thing, without the OGL, as you are allowing them to do with it.The copyright law allows for use of ideas or concepts, seperate from the presentation, so they can do it. Then can do it without even attributing the idea to you. So instead of using your textual descriptions of the mechanics under the OGL and giving you credit in the Section15, why would they not just take the idea and write it up themselves (as you seem to require anyway)? But at that point, they have no legal obligation to include you in their Section15, because they didn't use any of your copyrighted material and therefore didn't use the OGL license to do it. So you are not one of their sources of Open Content.You're actually better off to use the OGL and it's Open Content requirements the way they're intended. It gives you protections you wouldn't otherwise have (like attribution in the Section15, and being able to designate what is and isn't available for others). The way you seem to be using it, it isn't protecting anything at all.Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your viewpoint), that's exactly what Open Content is. And what it's for. I certainly wouldn't claim that it was "irresponsible" or "improper" of WotC to release the text of the SRD and allow others to use it verbatim. Under your reasoning, why didn't they just release the mechanics without the actual text? Wouldn't that still allow people to base their products on D20? And I wonder, have you used any of their (or other publishers') text unchanged? And, if so, how do you reconcile that with your expressed opinion on the proper and responsible use of Open Content?Really I understand why you, and some other publishers want to see things this way. But it's really not the way it's supposed to work (IMO). The license is pretty clear, and it's pretty clear (to me) that it's not talking about "ideas, concepts, and mechanics seperate from text" when it talks about designating Open Content. That's why it needs to be clearly designated, so that people know what they can and can't reuse. A work doesn't have to be 100% open, but it definitely needs to be something other than, "You can use the mechanics, but none of the text." Open Content is the price you pay for getting to play in WotC's sandbox.At least that's the way I see it.</blockquote>

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