Is it OK to distribute others' OGC for free?

[Cergorach]

I'm not Chuck but I'll give my opinion.

I don't know.

What I do know is that 2 years after release some of my first PDFs still bring in money on a regular basis. That means that those products still have value.

Having value is nice if that's what your care for, i do things all the time for free that have value. Like i asked chuck, how long after initial release generally does a pdf earn you enough money to cover it's creation costs and the time you spent on it is compensated (so that you can earn a reasonable salary)?

PDFs are very, very different from print. They're easier to copy text from and have a much longer "shelf life" than printed products.

That's true, that's why i generally treat the whole OGC business a bit differently for your average pdf publisher.

Here's an idea:
For every 100 words of exisiting OGC you use in a product -- for free or pay -- you should contribute 100 words of original OGC of your own design.

I intend to, as i've said, the UA is nothing more then a reference document for a larger project. I don't know if i initially achieve the 50% old, 50% new rule, but i hope to go far beyond the 50% new...

 

[Vigilance]

A) Most annoying if this is true. Let me rephrase it then, after which period of time have you sold enough product to make a decent living?
B) Most annoying as well, Monte has the same MO... Allright, if the release of the print version is 6 months after initial release, then 18 months after initial release would satisfy you?

I'm not sure why this annoys you... you seemed cognizant of the fact in some earlier posts where you mentioned that you considered PDF publishers seperately from print publishers.

Its really hard for me to give a timetable, as Phil said, my first PDFs still sell at about the pace they sold 6 months after they were released.

To rephrase something else Phil said that I think is important here- the OGC works best (imo) when it works like those "give a penny take a penny" things in the convenience store- taking out is ok... but you should also contribute.

And like the give a penny take a penny... if everyone stops contributing, then it isnt there anymore.

Chuck

 

[philreed]

To rephrase something else Phil said that I think is important here- the OGC works best (imo) when it works like those "give a penny take a penny" things in the convenience store- taking out is ok... but you should also contribute.

And like the give a penny take a penny... if everyone stops contributing, then it isnt there anymore.

This is an awesome analogy.

 

[Vigilance]

And when you mention "a reasonable salary" under optimum conditions I operate far below that as it is

And that isn't a complaint... I get by... but writers like me and Phil aren't trying to figure out where to park the OTHER mercedes yanno?

Chuck

 

[Numion]

Releasing OGC for free devalues that work and all future work. It should be the decision of the original publisher to make whether the OGC is available free online.

No it should not be the publishers decision. It is the publishers decision to decide what he/she publishes as OGC.

You are not Robin Hood. You are not stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. You're stealing from the industry and helping to drive creators from the industry.

It's not stealing. The publisher 'gave' the OGC for public use.

 

[philreed]

It's not stealing. The publisher 'gave' the OGC for public use.

Let me try this.

What he wants to do is perfectly legal, if he follows the license. He's already proven that he doesn't fully comprehend the license or have the experience to follow the license. This is dangerous.

Let's assume he gets it right. Releases all of the OGC from Unearthed Arcana online. This would be stealing from the future of the industry. Someone, somwhere at Hasbro has the authority to say "DON'T EVER DO THAT AGAIN" and the company then no longer releases books with OGC. And you know, just to be safe, don't release any new SRD-type files. And yank down the ones that are there. And cancel the D20 System license.

Are these extreme possibilities? Yes, very. But then, we're dealing with a large corporation and it's our responsibility to make them feel secure enough to release new OGC. It's not their responsibility to do so.

 

[Vigilance]

Nah... fudge it. I have work to do.

Chuck

 

[Poster Bard]

And you know, just to be safe, don't release any new SRD-type files. And yank down the ones that are there.

Thank goodness top quality designers, such as Charles Rice of RPG Objects has discovered the SRD 3.5 Revised Bundle from Creative Mountain Games! He has rated it at 5 of 5 and has some very nice comments to make here, not to mention it being tied for #4 in the top twenty all time of PDF products in the EN World reviews section.

Clearly there will never be a problem getting your mitts on the best damned SRD product ever produced, provided all good people support top notch companies like Creative Mountain Games!

That's Creative Mountain Games! They do the work, so you can play!

[/jack]

 

[smetzger]

Phil, I know I'm going to be labeled the anti-Christ for this but consider leaving the OGL and using a variant. Nothing says you can't come up with the "OG pirate blocking License" that says any product that uses your work cannot consist of more than 50% derivative works. That would block Caergoth (sp?) from just cloning your PDFs and 3rd party publishers that simply create collections.

Would not work. One of the tenants of OGL is that you cannot put any further restrictions on the OGL beyond the actual OGL.

 

[Vigilance]

Thank goodness top quality designers, such as Charles Rice of RPG Objects has discovered the SRD 3.5 Revised Bundle from Creative Mountain Games! He has rated it at 5 of 5 and has some very nice comments to make here, not to mention it being tied for #4 in the top twenty all time of PDF products in the EN World reviews section.

Clearly there will never be a problem getting your mitts on the best damned SRD product ever produced, provided all good people support top notch companies like Creative Mountain Games!

That's Creative Mountain Games! They do the work, so you can play!

[/jack]

Lol... too funny.

Seriously though, that index thingie is the best thing since sliced bread and you guys are making my current "secret project X-13" (which isn't much of a secret these days) go much quicker.

Chuck