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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JBowtie" data-source="post: 2525400" data-attributes="member: 1810">Yes, I did post in one of threads over there some time back. I was able to understand better where Pramas is coming from (his desire to protect the trademark) due to that. I don't agree with his position but certainly respect it. I probably was less clear about my position in that conversation, though.I think that referring to a product with weasel words is intellectually dishonest. If I were to release a Rokugan-compatible product with the express intention that you use it your Rokugan game, but go around saying "The oriental fantasy campaign setting based on a collectible card game" - well, I know I mean Rokugan and Alderac knows I mean Rokugan and in most cases the purchaser knows I mean Rokugan, so why not say it?  It just becomes a little game where I try to it without saying it, you know? And I see that sort of thing as a form of deception. Plus I'm investing creative energy into something pointless that could be better spent elsewhere.To clarify another point, working with another country's legal system is a bit of quagmire. This is one reason I prefer not to ask permission. In New Zealand, our trademark laws explicitly allow someone who makes an accessory to use a trademark for purposes of indicating compatibility, so that clause in the OGL may not be binding on me. But the web has no borders, so I'd be sued as soon as a US citizen downloaded my PDF. To be legally (and morally) on safe ground, I'd have to sign a licensing agreement with, say, Alderac to use their trademark. And signing that requires me to retain an overseas legal firm in the US. For a PDF that's nuts and prohibitively expensive.People with their business hats on will say "pay to play", which may be reasonable; my position is that creativity (at least mine) gets quashed when you have to start thinking about that sort of thing; it sidetracks you and diverts your energy. And, again, my motivation is not financial.</blockquote>

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