We got an official leak of One D&D OGL 1.1! Watch Our Discussion And Reactions!

[Ruin Explorer]

Heh. Well, y'all are taking all of our acting jobs! Turnabout is fair play, right?

I guess < sulks >

Seriously, though, there is a vast gulf between the American and English system which makes the vagaries of language usage look minute in comparison, and just small things like the distinctions between state and federal law which are ingrained in any American are often lost on those across the pond- let alone the more peculiar issues that have arisen over time and the distinctions we have from fifty sovereign states.

I totally acknowledge that, and I think you'd be surprised by how much of that I'm aware of.

However I do maintain some fairly demented judgements have been in US IP law cases, especially in our friend The Western District of Texas (though I think I heard there was some action being done to rectify this last year), though that's largely patent stuff. I'm not here to zing the US civil law system, I mean, it has issues (seriously just make the loser pay - I know there are a few places that do actually do that - and limit costs more!), men in glass houses and so on, given how libel/defamation is handled here, which is just a big fat oof for Britain and anything resembling justice.

 

[Desdichado]

Given your use of "whilst," perhaps it is best not to tell others how the American legal system handles contract and intellectual property issues, in the same manner that the Yanks tend not to tell Magic Circle firms how to cook their fish & chips.

Regardless of whether he's American or not, he's absolutely right. There are plenty of bad judgements in the US court industry (and I use that label somewhat deliberately) and plenty of judges have admitted outright that they don't even look at precedent, etc. Never put faith in a big, bureaucratic system that doesn't actually care about the outcome to produce the right outcome.

 

[S'mon]

I would say In support of Ruin Explorer’s position that there have been some utterly insane IP cases in the US in recent years (the blurred lines decision being the most famous). Thankfully the Kate Perry decision, which was possibly worse than the Blurred Lines case, was ultimately overturned I believe. I’m no lawyer though (but am American and used to be musician).

I tend to think of it in terms of US court of first instance decisions being extremely patchy, while appeal judgements tend to be of good quality, with quality of legal reasoning comparable to the English Court of Appeal; and then the decisions of the highest courts being more political. I remember a talk by Randy Rader here in London where he told an audience of English IP lawyers and academics that the purpose of a judge was to support the big corporations, never worry about the legal niceties. The audience didn't seem very keen on this.

 

[Cadence]

@Ruin Explorer

Do you know of anyone high up in the UK government or European Commission who loves 3PP ttrpgs? ...

 

[Alzrius]

Did anyone else see that, in the Indestructoboy stream, one of the commenters (under the handle "Zweihander Fantasy Horror RPG" which seems to imply that they're the publisher of said RPG) asserts that the DMs Guild license will be updated to require the use of the OGL v1.1 for products published that way?

No idea if that's true or not, but yet more fuel for the speculation mill.

 

[S'mon]

@Ruin Explorer

Do you know of anyone high up in the UK government or European Commission who loves 3PP ttrpgs? ...

I don't, but I know Stuart Marshall of OSRIC got an English law firm ready to represent him vs WoTC if they sued over OSRIC on the OGL, on no win no fee. WoTC backed off swiftly!

I can't see WoTC attempting to retroactively amend the OGL working in England or similar jurisdictions. One problem they have for the USA is that a judgement in their favour would have a huge effect on the open software industry, so they'd face a lot of amicus (amici?) curiae.

 

[Yora]

It's not an RPG issue, it's an open license issue. (Assume the issue even exists in the first place, which I seriously doubt.)

And open licenses in software are a big deal.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

@Ruin Explorer

Do you know of anyone high up in the UK government or European Commission who loves 3PP ttrpgs? ...

The sad thing is I think a number of people in government here have played RPGs, but I don't think any of them are that interested. I'm not sure this is an issue to be solved in legislation anyway, we might be getting just a little bit ahead of ourselves!

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

I guess < sulks >

I totally acknowledge that, and I think you'd be surprised by how much of that I'm aware of.

However I do maintain some fairly demented judgements have been in US IP law cases, especially in our friend The Western District of Texas (though I think I heard there was some action being done to rectify this last year), though that's largely patent stuff. I'm not here to zing the US civil law system, I mean, it has issues (seriously just make the loser pay - I know there are a few places that do actually do that - and limit costs more!), men in glass houses and so on, given how libel/defamation is handled here, which is just a big fat oof for Britain and anything resembling justice.

Not bad! Although it's the Eastern District of Texas (E.D. Tex.).

Texas is a big state .... That said, there have been changes that have helped (TC Heartland) but yeah, patent trolls are a problem.

Think we're getting pretty far afield of the topic, though.

 

[bedir than]

Yeah a lot of these people are using each other as a source.

When this happens with a sports* rumor it's generally a sign that the rumor is untrue. Circular origins mean that there is no origin at all.

It's one of the easiest ways to debunk a rumor.

*I've worked in sports journalism for a total of 15 years and have broken stories on things worth more than D&D.

What even is an official leak? That would be a press announcement.

Often at the end of a rumor's cycle you can discover the origin of a leak, and yes there are times when that origin is part of an official process.