Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Henry" data-source="post: 7737299" data-attributes="member: 158">All of it is wrapped up in the original discussions from years ago about the reason for the OGL in the first place, and the argument about not copyrighting game mechanics in the first place is, too - without a license, the distinction about what is and is not a rule, and the terms for describing that rule, and separating product identity from pure mechanics, is a legal minefield for something as complicated as an RPG, and the OGL resolves this simply - as long as one abides by its terms, all of the mechanics and&nbsp; jargon is clearly separated from what the licensor calls IP, in the section 15 of the license itself, or its reference document, and gives enough legal safety net and freedom for the third party to do its thing (make a game, make a supplement, make a module, etc.) Less freedom overall, but enough freedom to work within, with lots of safety net for publishers with insufficient legal counsel budgets.I’m not a lawyer, just to publicly state, I’ve just been following the OGL drama for close to 20 years, now.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Henry, post: 7737299, member: 158"] All of it is wrapped up in the original discussions from years ago about the reason for the OGL in the first place, and the argument about not copyrighting game mechanics in the first place is, too - without a license, the distinction about what is and is not a rule, and the terms for describing that rule, and separating product identity from pure mechanics, is a legal minefield for something as complicated as an RPG, and the OGL resolves this simply - as long as one abides by its terms, all of the mechanics and jargon is clearly separated from what the licensor calls IP, in the section 15 of the license itself, or its reference document, and gives enough legal safety net and freedom for the third party to do its thing (make a game, make a supplement, make a module, etc.) Less freedom overall, but enough freedom to work within, with lots of safety net for publishers with insufficient legal counsel budgets. I’m not a lawyer, just to publicly state, I’ve just been following the OGL drama for close to 20 years, now. [/QUOTE]

Verification