So how do we respond?

[see]

Anyway.

We still don't know exactly what's happening here, we've got partial reports based on leaks, plus various statements from lawyers.

However, if we assume that WotC/Hasbro really and truly intends to try to revoke the OGL 1.0a with regard to already-released material in the case of people who have not agreed to the OGL 1.1, there is one obvious "So how do we respond?"

We respond by contacting organizations in the Open Source and Free Software movements to pass legislation to eliminate this supposed right to revoke. The GPL 2, the BSD license, the MIT license, the Mozilla Public License . . . all would be revocable under this theory. That's a huge deal, if you know how much of the modern world is built on software released under those licenses.

And while court precedent, according to some lawyers, currently supports revocation, the law governing contracts and licenses can be amended by legislation.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

We respond by contacting organizations in the Open Source and Free Software movements to pass legislation to eliminate this supposed right to revoke.

one of the others (a real lawyer) works with lawmakers and said he had one ask how to write a law the next group of lawmakers could not overturn... you can't. Becuse before they cross out your law they will cross out the part that says they can't.

 

[S'mon]

one of the others (a real lawyer) works with lawmakers and said he had one ask how to write a law the next group of lawmakers could not overturn... you can't.

That's how legislation has always worked, yup.

 

[see]

one of the others (a real lawyer) works with lawmakers and said he had one ask how to write a law the next group of lawmakers could not overturn... you can't. Becuse before they cross out your law they will cross out the part that says they can't.

Yes, a future legislature could repeal the law. And? The law would still prevent revocation of the licenses as long as the law was in effect, which would be the point.

 

[cbwjm]

I'm going to buy the books because from what I've seen so far, OneDnD is looking good, and watch the DnD movie because it looks like it's going to be a lot of fun. These potential changes to the OGL aren't really going to impact me.

 

[mhd]

I'll leave that to the legal eagles here, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's some distinct difference between the OGL and all the software licenses, never mind that revoking one doesn't immediately create a precedent for all those. So I don't expect Big Tech or EFF lawyers to come to the aid of our tiny (by comparison) cottage industry.

And the Free Software people would just go "Why didn't you use something proper like the GNU FDL anyway?".

 

[Dausuul]

I'll leave that to the legal eagles here, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's some distinct difference between the OGL and all the software licenses, never mind that revoking one doesn't immediately create a precedent for all those. So I don't expect Big Tech or EFF lawyers to come to the aid of our tiny (by comparison) cottage industry.

Considering the enormous overlap between "people who work in tech" and "D&D fans," I wouldn't be too sure of that.

 

[mhd]

Considering the enormous overlap between "people who work in tech" and "D&D fans," I wouldn't be too sure of that.

Do you think gaming FAANG devs will lobby the EFF or their employers to sic their lawyers on this? I don't really think this connection will help a lot here.

Again, IANAL: But let's assume that WotC does enact a terrible reign. A lot of that will happen without any big lawsuits. No direct threat for software licenses.

Okay, then lawsuit does happen. If the WotC/Hasbro lawyers are smart, they phrase it so that this still doesn't imply anything for other licenses. But assume that they fail to do that or the opposing lawyers point out that this would wreak havoc. Lawsuit still takes time. Then it can go through the instances. At any point in time, this might wake up the software giant, but not necessarily. Once it's done and there's a plausible scenario that someone will revoke a software license that would hurt, some lobbying might happen. Or just money for the "underdog lawyers" fighting this.

What are we going to do in the mean time?

(And again, this was me blindly assuming that the connection can be made. I personally don't even see who could revoke e.g. the MIT license.)

 

[darjr]

If I were suddenly in charge of WotC I’d clean up the OGL and consult Creative Commons experts and make sure the new OGL is open and even less likely to be either revocable in any way or obfuscated to creat fud over it.

 

[Shiroiken]

So far I've been pretty pleased with the 1D&D playtest, making a complete boycott unlikely for me. However, we may purchase a single copy of the PHB for the entire group, and continue to use the older material for non-PC related material. Most of my group is considering dropping Beyond as a response, but I only have the free version myself (and only for the playtest).