No ECL in the SRD. Why are d20 publishers able to use it?

[Pramas]

This entire discussion will be moot next month when the new SRD comes out. ECL will be in there, as it's a feature of the new MM.

 

[The Sigil]

This entire discussion will be moot next month when the new SRD comes out. ECL will be in there, as it's a feature of the new MM.

Cool. A scoop.

Thanks, Chris.

--The Sigil

 

[Zub]

It isn't so much why would WoTC care, but it is the rationale that CodeMonkey/PCGen are using to exclude ECL in PCGen right now. I suppose if I purchase a dataset from Codemonkey, it will be back in.

I think the real question here is why would WotC care? The only thing ECL does is adjust the level of a character from a non-standard race. How does it hurt them for other companies to publish character races that are non-standard? If anything, it helps sell more copies of books such as Savage Species or Races of Faerun. ECL isn't like the mind flayer or the beholder. It doesn't separate their IP from that of others. It's just another mechanic, and one that is seeing more and more use the farther we get away from the classic D&D racial model of humans, elves, dwarves, and halflings.

 

[rpgHQ]

ECL is a game mechanic, it doesnt need to be in the SRD, besides game mechanics not being copyright, if oyur using the OGL it clearly shows game mechanics as 'open content', and is one of the few things actually clearly worded and covered by copyright law placed in that document.

 

[Vigilance]

Well- only the game mechanics created by third party publishers are automatically OGC (that would be schlepps like me).

WOTC game mechanics are only OGC if they are in the SRD. Thus you can't use the Force rules from Star Wars just because they are a game mechanic.

I suspect it's an oversight, and WOTC doesn't care about people using ECL.

The procedure is, WOTC notifies you that you are in violation of the license, and then you have a cure period of 30 days or so to rectify the problem.

So until WOTC notifies someone, and asks them to fix it, it isn't a problem.

And since I'm pretty sure it's an oversight, it probably won't happen.

Chuck

 

[davewoodrum]

This entire discussion will be moot next month when the new SRD comes out. ECL will be in there, as it's a feature of the new MM.

I think this response sums it up well enough

 

[rpgHQ]

http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl108.html

people might find the first 3 paragraphs of interest

 

[Drawmack]

Well- only the game mechanics created by third party publishers are automatically OGC (that would be schlepps like me).

Game mechanics cannot be copyritten only the means of presenting them can be. For example the leveling chart in the 3e phb is copyritten as it is a means of presenting the mechanic. The mechanic itself is
Sigma (Character level * 1000) this mathematical formula is not copyrightable. The reason being, if it were copyrightable then no mathematician could ever use it in research again. You cannot copyright game mechanics only the manor of presentation.

This being the case ECL the abbreviation could be copyright, the actual words that WotC uses to describe it can be copyright the concept cannot be.

 

[jmucchiello]

people might find the first 3 paragraphs of interest

Please read paragraph 5 of the OGL. If you did not create the idea, you do not have the right to contribute it to OGC. The OGL trumps standard copyright law. Please do not spread disinformation about what can be done in a OGL work.

Also read Paragraph 3, which says that by using OGC you agree to the license.

 

[Drawmack]

Please read paragraph 5 of the OGL. If you did not create the idea, you do not have the right to contribute it to OGC. The OGL trumps standard copyright law. Please do not spread disinformation about what can be done in a OGL work.

Also read Paragraph 3, which says that by using OGC you agree to the license.

That does not mean you cannot put that in an OGL product, you just cannot label it as OGC. Only a small poriton of any OGL product actually needs to be OGC.