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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Henry" data-source="post: 1387709" data-attributes="member: 158">First of all, I'll state that I'm not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice, but I'll state the case as I understand it and have seen it explained many times before:The problem is this: EVERY OGL product has a section (usually in the opening page) that describes what in the product is Product Identity and what is Open Content. If ANY of what you copy is product identity, then you are violating the law - plain and simple. Even if (let's say hypothetically) Mongoose said that "all of the combat chapter is open content", this means that the INFO in that chapter is open content. The page itself, its expression, its graphics, it's headers and fonts, are ALL property of Mongoose (or the R.E. Howard estate), and cannot be copied. You COULD, however, copy all of the text word for word out of that chapter and distribute it with your OWN formatting, graphics, etc. as long as you left out the things that are obviously someone else's identity (like examples using the names Conan, Valeria, etc.). Good example are Monte Cook's chapters on Feats and Spells. In some previous products, he has released ALL of his feats and their names (except for proper names) as open content. In that instance, you could copy a feat entirely according to OGL statement. His spells are different: The mechanics are usually released, but not Names or other PI. So if Monte creates a spell:FloojibLevel:1Effect: RaySave:NoneSR Applies: YesThis spell was created by Floojib the marvelous, and creates a ray of light that inflicts 1d6 fire damage upon contact.You yourself could publish a Spell called Flopppadoodly that created a ray of light doing 1d6 fire damage that had no save.In other words, CAREFULLY read the OGL statement of product identity before determining what you can use in a product of your own.Personal use or Fair Use are different issues, and ones sufficiently complex that I'm not going to BEGIN to touch.I hope the above helped somewhat.</blockquote>

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