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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 6527590" data-attributes="member: 42582">A lot of discussions about OGL games and OGL publishing suffer from a degree of technical confusion.I don't think Wicht is confused, but I think Saelorn might be.The OGL - speaking very literally - is a piece of text: a contract, written and copyrighted by WotC. Like all contracts, it contains certain terms. In the case of the OGL, those terms regulate the distribution and copying of RPG texts.Roughly speaking, any RPG text which is OGC ("open game content") can be distributed by anyone, without the need to pay fees or royalties, provided that that person abides by the terms of the OGL. These include rules about including a copy of the licence in the new publication, clearly identifying OGC in the new publication, and acknowledging other's copyrights in respect of OGC that the author of the new publication did not him-/herself create. They also include obligations not to use so-called "product identity" included by those prior OGC creators in their RPG texts - "product identity", roughly speaking, is story elements and trademarks.There are two basic ways for the OGL to actually be enlivened as a contract in respect of a piece of RPG text, thereby transforming that text into OGC.Method (i) requires an active decision: a person, who enjoys copyright in a piece of RPG text, delcares that henceforth that text may be used (ie reproduced in original or modified form) subject to the OGL.Method (ii) is built into the terms of the OGL itself: "game mechanics  . . . methods, procedures, processes and routines" in a work that is itself subject to the OGL become OGC; and a person who publishes a work subject to the OGL promises to all the world that his/her own OGC is usable under the terms of the OGL.WotC used method (i) in respect of a piece of RPG text called the SRD ("system reference document"). Here is the relevant declaration, found in a file called "Legal.rtf" that is part of my downloaded copy of the 3.5 SRD:Permission to copy, modify and distribute the files collectively known as the System Reference Document (“SRD”) is granted solely through the use of the Open Gaming License, Version 1.0a. This material is being released using the Open Gaming License Version 1.0a and you should read and understand the terms of that license before using this material. The text of the Open Gaming License itself is not Open Game Content. Instructions on using the License are provided within the License itself. The following items are designated Product Identity, as defined in Section 1(e) of the Open Game License Version 1.0a, and are subject to the conditions set forth in Section 7 of the OGL, and are not Open Content: . . . <snip a list of names of various RPG products and well-known D&D story elements> . . . All of the rest of the SRD is Open Game Content as described in Section 1(d) of the License.Evil Hat did the same thing with regard to Fate, in respect of 3 RPG texts (Fate Core System SRD, Fate Accelerated Edition SRD, Fate System Toolkit SRD). You can see the details <a href="http://www.faterpg.com/licensing/licensing-fate-ogl/" target="_blank">here</a>.Mostly when people talk about publishing an OGL game product, they are talking publishing a RPG text that combines original text, in respect of which they own the copyright, with text in which someone else owns the copyright, but that is OGC (in virtue of either method (i) or method (ii)). Many such products (not all) incorporate RPG text that is found in the WotC's SRD (and hence is OGC via method (i)).Because many of the RPG texts that use the OGL to reproduce OGC also generate new OGC (via Method (ii)), the amount of OGC in the world increases over time.As others have stated upthread, you are never obliged to enter into a contract with anyone.The flipside of this is that others, who enjoy copyright in the texts that they have written, are never obliged to let you reproduce their words. (Compulsory licences aren't relevant in the RPG context.)In a post upthread you mentioned the recent events around C&D on character generators. If you publish material which infringes someone else's copyright, they may try and take action against you. The fact that you haven't entered into a contract with them won't help - copyright is a form of property, and so is (roughly speaking) good against all the world, whether or not you have made any promises to the copyright-holder.My understanding was that it was not published under, nor compliant with, the OGL. If it was, then WotC would have no basis for complaint, because there would have been no breach of any contract with WotC, and no use of copyrighted material or trademarks outside the terms of the contract.</blockquote>

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