How will GSL noncompetition affect fanworks?

[med stud]

I'm sure you don't mean that absolutely.

http://ww2.wizards.com/Company/Misc/Index.aspx?doc=pr_20060119a

That was an extreme case, though. There is a difference between someone repeatedly posting "prototypes from planned releases" and a guy who does a 3.5 version of Tide of Iron. I can't see the linked article as "going after your fans" as much as economical self defense.

 

[pawsplay]

Hardly a comparison. Trying to stop somebody releasing confidential information isn't the same as fans making stuff for their favourite game. I'm sure you know the context I was speaking in.

Yes, but I don't know what your own personal standards are for deciding when someone has it coming or not. What you wrote sounded very close to "WotC does not sue fans," which is close but not quite true. WotC will sue fans that do something they consider a violation of their intellectual property rights. With the new license, that could certainly be different than what was true under the OGL.

 

[Lacyon]

I was wondering how this will affect fan works? If I want to take the 4e feats and write them in 3.5e format and put them on a webpage, will this prevent me from doing so. Or if I find a cool new power and I want to turn it into a spell, will that also prevent that? Even if I am not getting any money from this at all. And which license do I post?

Anything you create yourself you can publish under the OGL. Anything legally published under the OGL can be republished under the OGL.

Taking someone else's work that has not been previously published under the OGL and attempting to publish that work under the OGL probably isn't a good idea.

Converting material from one system to another and posting that conversion somewhere is unlikely to get you sued in the modern era, but I wouldn't recommend trying to claim that it falls under the OGL.

 

[cferejohn]

Seems to me that of course taking someone elses published work and converting it and posting it without their permission is of course a no-no. A better question is, if a fan has previously "published" (i.e. posted to a website, message board, etc.) some 3.5 material, and then they convert their own material to 4E using the guidelines perscribed by the 4th edition license, are they now obligated to remove their 3.5 version from their website?

Clearly this is true for publishers; they cannot simultaneously release the same material in a 3.5 version and 4E version. I would imagine this makes it *technically* true for fans as well, but I have a hard time imagining Wizards is going to go after someone for it.

I am not a lawyer.

But my wife is!

Non practising right now.

And she was an estate planning attorney which doesn't really have anything to do with intellectual property and licensing issues.

And I didn't ask her anyway.

And even if I did she wouldn't care.

OK fine, you shouldn't have even read the post. Happy?

 

[The Little Raven]

I'm sure you don't mean that absolutely.

http://ww2.wizards.com/Company/Misc/Index.aspx?doc=pr_20060119a

That's a lawsuit over stolen, internal company documents. That's not going after fans, that's going after people who are stealing your work and releasing it in a public form both before their official release and without a license.

That's a world of difference away from suing some guy because he makes a D&D fansite with some new game mechanics (unless those mechanics were the result of stolen, internal documents).

 

[WhatGravitas]

That's a lawsuit over stolen, internal company documents. That's not going after fans, that's going after people who are stealing your work and releasing it in a public form both before their official release and without a license.

Also, from what was heard back then, the lawsuit was mainly directed against him to find out who has leaked the documents to him (note the John Does). And, of course, to avoid further incidents of that type.

Cheers, LT.