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<blockquote data-quote="JohnNephew" data-source="post: 1022305" data-attributes="member: 2171">I think it's further evidence that people at WotC since Ryan Dancey left don't really have a very good understanding of the subtleties of the Open Game License and D20 System Trademark License.WotC should not WANT &quot;d20&quot; as Product Identity.&nbsp; Now, anyone who wants to recap the core mechanic (as you aptly point out as an example) needs to negotiate a separate agreement with WotC to permit them use of the Product Identity.&nbsp; Yes, we're talking about the text of products, not promoting an item as &quot;compatible with d20&quot; or using d20 in a title.&nbsp; Product Identity use anywhere in an OGL work requires a license/permission for its use.Perhaps they'll roll it into the D20 STL.&nbsp; In that case, the D20STL/OGL division has been rendered almost meaningless -- any work that uses &quot;d20&quot; in its body text will have to be D20STL compliant.&nbsp; Or maybe they'll have a THIRD license, to use the &quot;d20&quot; term as Product Identity with authorization (and with added restrictions -- perhaps not using it in product titles, or not using it in advertising for OGL-but-not-&quot;D20 System&quot; products), which will further confuse people.Or maybe everyone will just ignore the Product Identity designation as invalid.&nbsp; In which case they're still confusing people and making it harder for people to follow the letter and spirit of the licenses.Or maybe they'll try to selectively enforce these things -- recently departed WotC managers will be allowed to get away with violating the license terms in their advertising, while companies run by ex-TSR employees from a decade ago will be told to pulp thousands of books.&nbsp; Wait, no, that ALREADY was going on.Sorry if I sound harsh, but I'm really disheartened by this.&nbsp; Blech.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="JohnNephew, post: 1022305, member: 2171"] I think it's further evidence that people at WotC since Ryan Dancey left don't really have a very good understanding of the subtleties of the Open Game License and D20 System Trademark License. WotC should not WANT "d20" as Product Identity. Now, anyone who wants to recap the core mechanic (as you aptly point out as an example) needs to negotiate a separate agreement with WotC to permit them use of the Product Identity. Yes, we're talking about the text of products, not promoting an item as "compatible with d20" or using d20 in a title. Product Identity use anywhere in an OGL work requires a license/permission for its use. Perhaps they'll roll it into the D20 STL. In that case, the D20STL/OGL division has been rendered almost meaningless -- any work that uses "d20" in its body text will have to be D20STL compliant. Or maybe they'll have a THIRD license, to use the "d20" term as Product Identity with authorization (and with added restrictions -- perhaps not using it in product titles, or not using it in advertising for OGL-but-not-"D20 System" products), which will further confuse people. Or maybe everyone will just ignore the Product Identity designation as invalid. In which case they're still confusing people and making it harder for people to follow the letter and spirit of the licenses. Or maybe they'll try to selectively enforce these things -- recently departed WotC managers will be allowed to get away with violating the license terms in their advertising, while companies run by ex-TSR employees from a decade ago will be told to pulp thousands of books. Wait, no, that ALREADY was going on. Sorry if I sound harsh, but I'm really disheartened by this. Blech. [/QUOTE]

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