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What Actually Is Copyright Protected In The SRD?
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<blockquote data-quote="clearstream" data-source="post: 8885531" data-attributes="member: 71699"><p>Agreed! Although one factor to consider is the benefit of doing so?</p><p></p><p></p><p>Your stats can work identically. How something (e.g. a mechanic) works is very rarely protected. For example, WotC held for a time a patent on the tap mechanic, which they allowed to lapse. What can be copyrighted are distinctive wordings and appearances.</p><p></p><p>One could use an identical turn / action sequence to DnD, and in many cases label those elements with the same words, without infringing. One useful test would be to see if those mechanics and words exist in other games. So if Strength is a stat that often appears in RPGs (generally) it is not very likely to be upheld as distinctive of DnD. Likewise action, movement, and other such terms.</p><p></p><p>So just to reiterate, their names are in fact <em>more important</em> in relation to copyright concerns, than how your stats work, which is largely immaterial. Corporations can benefit from ambiguity - the threat and fear of legal action - more than is justified under the law itself. For example, the threat of an encumbrance (say, the risk if not the actuality of legal action) may make a work harder to sell. It's more for that reason that one might want to create clear water between products.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="clearstream, post: 8885531, member: 71699"] Agreed! Although one factor to consider is the benefit of doing so? Your stats can work identically. How something (e.g. a mechanic) works is very rarely protected. For example, WotC held for a time a patent on the tap mechanic, which they allowed to lapse. What can be copyrighted are distinctive wordings and appearances. One could use an identical turn / action sequence to DnD, and in many cases label those elements with the same words, without infringing. One useful test would be to see if those mechanics and words exist in other games. So if Strength is a stat that often appears in RPGs (generally) it is not very likely to be upheld as distinctive of DnD. Likewise action, movement, and other such terms. So just to reiterate, their names are in fact [I]more important[/I] in relation to copyright concerns, than how your stats work, which is largely immaterial. Corporations can benefit from ambiguity - the threat and fear of legal action - more than is justified under the law itself. For example, the threat of an encumbrance (say, the risk if not the actuality of legal action) may make a work harder to sell. It's more for that reason that one might want to create clear water between products. [/QUOTE]
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What Actually Is Copyright Protected In The SRD?
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