Is the Unearthed Arcana SRD online?

[The Sigil]

Sigil, I wish you'd joined this party earlier. You've managed to so neatly encapsulate the issues, and have offered such clear analyses of the positions I've been laboriously trying to work out and present, that I wish I'd just waited until you arrived.

Thanks for that.

That's high praise. Thanks for THAT.

--The Sigil

 

[Voadam]

Even though all d20 releases contain some OGC, and some open content has been made freely available as SRDs, as far as I know no third-party release has been popular enough to inspire text hacking of the print book or customization of the free SRD.

There are many copywright violating pdfs of print books from SSS, AEG, Green Ronin, Malhavok, Mongoose, etc. out there.

It is not just closed content more popular WotC books.

 

[Wasgo]

There are many copywright violating pdfs of print books from SSS, AEG, Green Ronin, Malhavok, Mongoose, etc. out there.

Which isn't what we're talking about. The point was that no one has bothered ripping full OGC from any 3rd party books. Doing that is much harder than simply scanning it.

Speaking of which, what about contacting 3rd party companies and getting their blessing about ripping OGC from their OOP books? That would keep with the goal of preserving OGC material and not upseting the publishers at the same time.

 

[kenjib]

Which isn't what we're talking about. The point was that no one has bothered ripping full OGC from any 3rd party books. Doing that is much harder than simply scanning it.

Speaking of which, what about contacting 3rd party companies and getting their blessing about ripping OGC from their OOP books? That would keep with the goal of preserving OGC material and not upseting the publishers at the same time.

If you contact them for permission, then the whole point of the open gaming license is defeated. You are essentially negotiating a new license, which you can do with any standard copyrighted stuff.

 

[Ranger REG]

Although I do not want to deviate from the main target of the discussion (i.e., Unearthed Arcana), but have any of you ever think of doing SRD of third-party d20 products?

I know many of you are "gung-ho" (I apologize if it sounds aggressive) about doing such an UA SRD and distribute it, but why is it just WotC's products? What about a Field of Blood SRD, or a Spycraft SRD?

I mean, if you're gonna do one, you might as well do all.

 

[CRGreathouse]

Although I do not want to deviate from the main target of the discussion (i.e., Unearthed Arcana), but have any of you ever think of doing SRD of third-party d20 products?

I know many of you are "gung-ho" (I apologize if it sounds aggressive) about doing such an UA SRD and distribute it, but why is it just WotC's products? What about a Field of Blood SRD, or a Spycraft SRD?

I mean, if you're gonna do one, you might as well do all.

Although I'm not involved in any of these projects, I'll note that:

* At least one major 3rd-party book is being turned into an "SRD" by readers, with the blessings of the publisher, no less. (I can't immediately recall which, but it is linked to in this thread.)
* Many more people own UA than any given 3rd-party book, with the possible exceptions of some of the very early products. This makes it much easier to get enough people together to gather the OGC.

 

[Wasgo]

If you contact them for permission, then the whole point of the open gaming license is defeated. You are essentially negotiating a new license, which you can do with any standard copyrighted stuff.

No, the whole point is that I don't need to ask for permission, not that I shouldn't. Just like I don't need to hold the door open for people. but I'm able to do that too. Moreover, it is nothing at all like a new license. It's a simple request with a yes/no answer. Once given, no negotiation takes place. In comparison, if there were no license, there legal team would have to look over my request, carefully draft a document, and if no money were to be made. probably wouldn't happen.

 

[Wasgo]

Many more people own UA than any given 3rd-party book, with the possible exceptions of some of the very early products. This makes it much easier to get enough people together to gather the OGC.

To be entirely fair though, with current OCR software, you don't really need more than one person per product, especially if we devised a standard template.

 

[Nellisir]

After reading through the license again, I thought I'd throw in another post. Two little points.
1.) Due to it's trademarked nature, the online OGC could not be called the Unearthed Arcana SRD. Unearthed Arcana is a registered trademark of WotC and not OGC.

True, but you could call it the Dug-Up Magic Book System Reference Document...


Nell.
Who thinks he's far cleverer late at night than he really is.

 

[Henry]

I know many of you are "gung-ho" (I apologize if it sounds aggressive) about doing such an UA SRD and distribute it, but why is it just WotC's products? What about a Field of Blood SRD, or a Spycraft SRD?

I mean, if you're gonna do one, you might as well do all.

I'm gung-ho about ALL of them that can be legally done; similar to Eric Noah's position, I LOVE electronic support for my RPG's. This includes online reference documents - I'll take them where I can get them. So if someone does a legal "Exhumed Esoterica" That means I have a copy that I can pick apart and put into my game notes, or just browse from my computer when I'm trying to help someone answer a rules question. If I could, I'd have Spycraft, Arcana Unearthed, and Mutants and Masterminds as OGC PDF's - but because trying to surgically remove the PGC in these games is a tricky job, you'd have something reminiscent of a cyborg carved back into his constiuent parts - in other words, ugly and unviable. It would have to have game parts replaced before being useful for reference, and it might as well be another, free, OGC game that is similar in content.