Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
What are the Realistic Limitations of the OGL?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="pawsplay" data-source="post: 5089121" data-attributes="member: 15538"><p>What it says is this:</p><p></p><p>"8. Identification: If you distribute Open Game Content You must clearly indicate which portions of the work that you are distributing are Open Game Content."</p><p></p><p>If I can't tell at a glance what is OGC and what is not, you violate the license. If you only make an OGC declaration and not a PI one, then I guess you aren't clearly identifying it and nothing is PI, except those things already specified in the license itself.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>What you are describing is not a logical possibility. The OGL doesn't "transform" anything. It is a license to produce derivative works. You can't make something PI that is verbatim OGC. However, you can make entirely PI works that are entirely derivative. </p><p></p><p>1. "(g) "Use", "Used" or "Using" means to use, Distribute, copy, edit, format, modify, translate and otherwise <strong>create Derivative Material </strong>of Open Game Content.</p><p></p><p>"(d)"Open Game Content" means the game mechanic and includes the methods, procedures, processes and routines to the extent such content does not embody the Product Identity and is an enhancement over the prior art and any additional content clearly identified as Open Game Content by the Contributor, and means any work covered by this License, including translations and derivative works under copyright law, but <strong>specifically excludes Product Identity. </strong></p><p></p><p>"(e) "Product Identity" means product and product line names, logos and identifying marks including trade dress; artifacts; creatures characters; stories, storylines, plots, thematic elements, dialogue, incidents, language, artwork, symbols, designs, depictions, likenesses, formats, poses, concepts, themes and graphic, photographic and other visual or audio representations; names and descriptions of characters, spells, enchantments, personalities, teams, personas, likenesses and special abilities; places, locations, environments, creatures, equipment, magical or supernatural abilities or effects, logos, symbols, or graphic designs; and any other trademark or registered trademark clearly identified as Product identity by the owner of the Product Identity, and which specifically excludes the Open Game Content; (f) "</p><p></p><p>"4. Grant and Consideration: In consideration for agreeing to use this License, the Contributors grant You a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license with the exact terms of this License to <strong>Use</strong>, the Open Game Content."</p><p></p><p>The "derivative works" referenced above clearly refers to "any work covered by this License, including ..." There are some thorny issues in the license, but it comes down to this: there is nothing preventing you from taking OGC, altering it, and declaring it PI. </p><p></p><p>A kosher example would be taking an ordinary +1 longsword and renaming it "Zarg's Blade." A complete non-starter would be to take existing OGC, make trivial changes that are not "enhancement over the prior art" and try to call it PI. In practice, since OGC has to be clearly labeled, a publisher can retain control over original concepts simply by not declaring them OGC (which makes them not). Aside from that, there are many interesting cases. </p><p></p><p>For instance, Green Ronin did not make power points OGC in their M&M, but it's not clear to me that points used to buy powers and abilities are an enhancement over prior art (making them copyrightable) or if they are, one of the categories of PI (making them protectable through the license). Arguably, they are "special abilities." The best protection for Green Ronin is the inability to declare compability without getting a license from them.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pawsplay, post: 5089121, member: 15538"] What it says is this: "8. Identification: If you distribute Open Game Content You must clearly indicate which portions of the work that you are distributing are Open Game Content." If I can't tell at a glance what is OGC and what is not, you violate the license. If you only make an OGC declaration and not a PI one, then I guess you aren't clearly identifying it and nothing is PI, except those things already specified in the license itself. What you are describing is not a logical possibility. The OGL doesn't "transform" anything. It is a license to produce derivative works. You can't make something PI that is verbatim OGC. However, you can make entirely PI works that are entirely derivative. 1. "(g) "Use", "Used" or "Using" means to use, Distribute, copy, edit, format, modify, translate and otherwise [B]create Derivative Material [/B]of Open Game Content. "(d)"Open Game Content" means the game mechanic and includes the methods, procedures, processes and routines to the extent such content does not embody the Product Identity and is an enhancement over the prior art and any additional content clearly identified as Open Game Content by the Contributor, and means any work covered by this License, including translations and derivative works under copyright law, but [B]specifically excludes Product Identity. [/B] "(e) "Product Identity" means product and product line names, logos and identifying marks including trade dress; artifacts; creatures characters; stories, storylines, plots, thematic elements, dialogue, incidents, language, artwork, symbols, designs, depictions, likenesses, formats, poses, concepts, themes and graphic, photographic and other visual or audio representations; names and descriptions of characters, spells, enchantments, personalities, teams, personas, likenesses and special abilities; places, locations, environments, creatures, equipment, magical or supernatural abilities or effects, logos, symbols, or graphic designs; and any other trademark or registered trademark clearly identified as Product identity by the owner of the Product Identity, and which specifically excludes the Open Game Content; (f) " "4. Grant and Consideration: In consideration for agreeing to use this License, the Contributors grant You a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license with the exact terms of this License to [B]Use[/B], the Open Game Content." The "derivative works" referenced above clearly refers to "any work covered by this License, including ..." There are some thorny issues in the license, but it comes down to this: there is nothing preventing you from taking OGC, altering it, and declaring it PI. A kosher example would be taking an ordinary +1 longsword and renaming it "Zarg's Blade." A complete non-starter would be to take existing OGC, make trivial changes that are not "enhancement over the prior art" and try to call it PI. In practice, since OGC has to be clearly labeled, a publisher can retain control over original concepts simply by not declaring them OGC (which makes them not). Aside from that, there are many interesting cases. For instance, Green Ronin did not make power points OGC in their M&M, but it's not clear to me that points used to buy powers and abilities are an enhancement over prior art (making them copyrightable) or if they are, one of the categories of PI (making them protectable through the license). Arguably, they are "special abilities." The best protection for Green Ronin is the inability to declare compability without getting a license from them. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
What are the Realistic Limitations of the OGL?
Top