Legal Eagle has entered the chat, about OGL 1.1

[GMforPowergamers]

I've watched a bunch of Legal Eagle videos. I don't like it so much when he gets into political stuff, but he's certainly entertaining. Good to get the news out there.

I think he is entertaining, my favorte is when he does movie or show reviews... do yourself a favor and sit and watch his thoughts on Legally Blonde

 

[CleverNickName]

This story is exploding all over my news feed today.

Forbes:

What’s Happening With The Dungeons & Dragons Open Gaming License?

A leak of the new Open Gaming License for Dungeons & Dragons has thrown the tabletop industry into a shake up.

www.forbes.com

Electronic Frontier Foundation:

Beware the Gifts of Dragons: How D&D’s Open Gaming License May Have Become a Trap for Creators

The company that owns Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) is planning to revoke the open license that has, since the year 2000, applied to a wide range of unofficial, commercial products that build on the mechanics of the game.

www.eff.org

Dexerto:

What is D&D OGL 1.1? WoTC Open Game License leak explained - Dexerto

Wizards of the Coast are soon to change it's Open Game License, causing major changes to many D&D creators. Here's the D&D OGL 1.1 explained.

www.dexerto.com

ComicBook.com:

Thousands Sign Open Letter Protesting Reported Restrictions in New Dungeons & Dragons OGL

A grassroots campaign has gathered thousands of signatures for an open letter protesting the [...]

comicbook.com

Hackaday:

Wizards Slay The Dragon That Lays The Golden Egg

Hail, and well met adventurers! There’s rumors of dark dealings, and mysterious machinations from that group of Western mystics, Wizards of the Coast (WotC). If this pernicious plot is allowe…

hackaday.com

Inverse:

D&D's community is up in arms over a controversial change

Wizards of the Coast is about to deliver a controversial rework the Open Gaming License that allows D&D players to publish and profit from homebrew content.

www.inverse.com

Ars Technica:

RPG fans irate as D&D tries to shut its “open” game license

Leaked document seeks to revoke two decades of royalty-free rules sharing.

arstechnica.com

TechCrunch:

Dungeons & Dragons content creators are fighting to protect their livelihoods | TechCrunch

Wizards of the Coast plans to update its Open Gaming License (OGL) to cut into creators' bottom line, sparking controversy among fans.

techcrunch.com

There's more, this is jut the first page!

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

This story is exploding all over my news feed today.

Forbes:

What’s Happening With The Dungeons & Dragons Open Gaming License?

A leak of the new Open Gaming License for Dungeons & Dragons has thrown the tabletop industry into a shake up.

www.forbes.com

Electronic Frontier Foundation:

Beware the Gifts of Dragons: How D&D’s Open Gaming License May Have Become a Trap for Creators

The company that owns Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) is planning to revoke the open license that has, since the year 2000, applied to a wide range of unofficial, commercial products that build on the mechanics of the game.

www.eff.org

Dexerto:

What is D&D OGL 1.1? WoTC Open Game License leak explained - Dexerto

Wizards of the Coast are soon to change it's Open Game License, causing major changes to many D&D creators. Here's the D&D OGL 1.1 explained.

www.dexerto.com

ComicBook.com:

Thousands Sign Open Letter Protesting Reported Restrictions in New Dungeons & Dragons OGL

A grassroots campaign has gathered thousands of signatures for an open letter protesting the [...]

comicbook.com

Hackaday:

Wizards Slay The Dragon That Lays The Golden Egg

Hail, and well met adventurers! There’s rumors of dark dealings, and mysterious machinations from that group of Western mystics, Wizards of the Coast (WotC). If this pernicious plot is allowe…

hackaday.com

Inverse:

D&D's community is up in arms over a controversial change

Wizards of the Coast is about to deliver a controversial rework the Open Gaming License that allows D&D players to publish and profit from homebrew content.

www.inverse.com

Ars Technica:

RPG fans irate as D&D tries to shut its “open” game license

Leaked document seeks to revoke two decades of royalty-free rules sharing.

arstechnica.com

TechCrunch:

Dungeons & Dragons content creators are fighting to protect their livelihoods | TechCrunch

Wizards of the Coast plans to update its Open Gaming License (OGL) to cut into creators' bottom line, sparking controversy among fans.

techcrunch.com

There's more, this is jut the first page!

The "mainstream coverage of D&D" thread is going to be taking a serious turn.

 

[xiphumor]

LegalEagle — Dungeons & Dragons Rolls a 1 on New License (OGL 1.1)

Bunch of nerds.

nebula.tv

If you have Nebula, you can watch the video now. It will be on YouTube shortly, I imagine.

 

[overgeeked]

It's up on YouTube.

 

[S'mon]

It's up on YouTube.

Well he doesn't talk about the main thing that concerns us - purported revocation of OGL 1.0. He does give a reasonable presentation on the limits of copyright, making pretty clear that while you can potentially publish D&D adventures without a licence, you can't do something like Pathfinder 1e without a licence.

 

[Hex08]

I just watched his video on Nebula. Pretty interesting, his take is basically that the OGL is unnecessary because you can't copyright rules. Obviously nothing is certain in the law until it ends up in front of a judge but this really sheds new light on what's going on.

 

[Hex08]

Well he doesn't talk about the main thing that concerns us - purported revocation of OGL 1.0. He does give a reasonable presentation on the limits of copyright, making pretty clear that while you can potentially publish D&D adventures without a licence, you can't do something like Pathfinder 1e without a licence.

I'm not sure he even says you can't do Pathfinder 1E. Since rules can't be copyrighted and Pathfinder doesn't use copyrighted material (like a Beholder) it would be ok. Of course, I'm not a lawyer so I may be talking out my butt.

 

[overgeeked]

The gofundme LegalEagle mentioned is here:

Donate to Reasonable Minds Can REBUILD!, organized by Katie Johansen

Hey Friends, Mrs. HoegLaw here, I asked Rick’s sister to write this up, because it was ju… Katie Johansen needs your support for Reasonable Minds Can REBUILD!

www.gofundme.com

 

[overgeeked]

I think one thing he mentioned is worth repeating endlessly.

Words with Friends can exist because you cannot copyright the rules to Scrabble.

A VTT does not reproduce the copyrighted expression of the rules of a game. It uses non-copyrightable rules and processes. VTTs are safe. WotC can sue, because anyone can sue for any reason. But they'll likely lose. I am not a lawyer.

For an example using Hasbro IP. The board game Diplomacy. There are at least two websites that host games of Diplomacy with no connection or license by Hasbro to do so. Because they don't need one. PlayDiplomacyOnline and Backstabbr. These sites are VTTs for Diplomacy.