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<blockquote data-quote="Yaarel" data-source="post: 8926350" data-attributes="member: 58172">The post focuses on &quot;Product Identity&quot; as the OGL 1.0a defines it.Certainly, any reverse engineered game rules would lack &quot;logos&quot; and &quot;identifying marks including trade dress&quot;.Then the &quot;stories, ... dialogue, incidents, artwork&quot;, even &quot;poses&quot;, are a reasonable list of copyrightable things.But then &quot;concepts&quot; and &quot;themes&quot; are some of what the OGL contract enforces but the copyright wont.Then, back too, copyrightable &quot;photographic ... representations, ... personalities, ... names and descriptions, places,&quot;but adds debatable &quot;creatures, ... supernatural abilities or effects&quot;.Then back to trade dress, &quot;logos, symbols, or graphic designs, and any other trademark, ...&quot;This is a hodgepodge list. It includes an agreement to protect things that go beyond the scope of a copyright.If I were to characterize this amalgam, it would be something like:• Use these rules• Dont pretend to be us• Leave our own products for these rules aloneIn any case, I feel notable businesses and people who use this OGL license understood this in some way in good faith.To be clear, I view &quot;stories&quot;, and setting details to be strictly copyrightable, especially newly invented names like &quot;Thay&quot; and &quot;Ysgard&quot; (a way to signify Norse-esque while non-Norse).What makes the D&amp;D Elf different from all other games where one can play an Elf? It isnt the game rules that matter. It is the story and setting. For example, the D&amp;D version of an Elf originates from the celestial realm of Arborea. They sprang from the blood of Corellon, a mercurial shapeshifter who banished these offspring. It was one of these Elves, Lolth, who led the rebellion against Corellon, whence the banishment. She is now a demon in the Chaotic Evil Abyss. The Elves became refugees in the Feywild and from there have migrated to almost every realm in the multiverse.These story and setting colorize the D&amp;D Elf &quot;bright red&quot;, sotospeak. These details make the D&amp;D Elf unlike any other Elf in any other game.An attempt to reverse engineer game rules would not import from this unique and copyrightable content.I saw the D&amp;D movie, but am less familiar with game rules for this book. The &quot;Necronomicon&quot; does something analogous, in a cosmic horror way.The Tolkien rings do similar corrupting influences. But I dont have a sense of what makes the Book of Vile Darkness unique or how it might be vital for game rules.But generally, to publish a clear imitation of a story steps into copyright issues and needs navigation. One can repeat an old story in a new way, or draw inspiration from a concept.Non-OGL game rules do well to stay clear of this as much as possible, and only focus on what is necessary for a gaming engine that independent setting can build from.I am Norwegian. I will write stories about Thor fighting giants whenever I please!The goal of this thread is to be practicable.Gaming engine rules dont need any proprietary D&amp;D setting details.The goal is a stand-alone version of the game rules.Other businesses and individuals are interested in creating new content for these rules, including new settings.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Yaarel, post: 8926350, member: 58172"] The post focuses on "Product Identity" as the OGL 1.0a defines it. Certainly, any reverse engineered game rules would lack "logos" and "identifying marks including trade dress". Then the "stories, ... dialogue, incidents, artwork", even "poses", are a reasonable list of copyrightable things. But then "concepts" and "themes" are some of what the OGL contract enforces but the copyright wont. Then, back too, copyrightable "photographic ... representations, ... personalities, ... names and descriptions, places," but adds debatable "creatures, ... supernatural abilities or effects". Then back to trade dress, "logos, symbols, or graphic designs, and any other trademark, ..." This is a hodgepodge list. It includes an agreement to protect things that go beyond the scope of a copyright. If I were to characterize this amalgam, it would be something like: • Use these rules • Dont pretend to be us • Leave our own products for these rules alone In any case, I feel notable businesses and people who use this OGL license understood this in some way in good faith. To be clear, I view "stories", and setting details to be strictly copyrightable, especially newly invented names like "Thay" and "Ysgard" (a way to signify Norse-esque while non-Norse). What makes the D&D Elf different from all other games where one can play an Elf? It isnt the game rules that matter. It is the story and setting. For example, the D&D version of an Elf originates from the celestial realm of Arborea. They sprang from the blood of Corellon, a mercurial shapeshifter who banished these offspring. It was one of these Elves, Lolth, who led the rebellion against Corellon, whence the banishment. She is now a demon in the Chaotic Evil Abyss. The Elves became refugees in the Feywild and from there have migrated to almost every realm in the multiverse. These story and setting colorize the D&D Elf "bright red", sotospeak. These details make the D&D Elf unlike any other Elf in any other game. An attempt to reverse engineer game rules would not import from this unique and copyrightable content. I saw the D&D movie, but am less familiar with game rules for this book. The "Necronomicon" does something analogous, in a cosmic horror way.The Tolkien rings do similar corrupting influences. But I dont have a sense of what makes the Book of Vile Darkness unique or how it might be vital for game rules. But generally, to publish a clear imitation of a story steps into copyright issues and needs navigation. One can repeat an old story in a new way, or draw inspiration from a concept. Non-OGL game rules do well to stay clear of this as much as possible, and only focus on what is necessary for a gaming engine that independent setting can build from. I am Norwegian. I will write stories about Thor fighting giants whenever I please! The goal of this thread is to be practicable. Gaming engine rules dont need any proprietary D&D setting details. The goal is a stand-alone version of the game rules. Other businesses and individuals are interested in creating new content for these rules, including new settings. [/QUOTE]

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