D&D 4E WotC announces plans for 4e SRD and OGL

[Morrus]

Or at the very least, it's derivable from Open Content.

You skipped that part.

Well, I imagine that it is derived from the 3.5 PHB, not the 3.5 SRD. The 3.5 PHB is all closed. It does happen to have very similar material to the 3.5 SRD, though.

You could, in theory, do the same thing - "derive" a 4E from the 3.5 SRD. But the 4E PHB etc. will not be open content. The 4E SRD will be, but a different type of open content, under a different, but similarly named license.

 

[Psion]

I suspect that's a pretty tough legal argument to make.

I really don't think so.

Wizards own the contents of the 3e books lock, stock and barrel. They did not have to--and did not--have to fulfill terms of the OGL to make derivative material from it.

The fact that their exists other licensed material--the 3.5 SRD--derived from the 3.5 books does not bear on the issue.

 

[Firevalkyrie]

I suspect that's a pretty tough legal argument to make. It would take someone with a Hasbro-sized legal team to challenge WotC on this one, though.

And I just noticed that Malhavoc wasn't in on the conference call. There dies one of my dreams.

From what I understand, Malhavoc at this point basically exists to reprint Monte's existing back catalog - he's moved on to other projects and (probably) won't be returning to RPGs for a few years.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

Well, I imagine that it is derived from the 3.5 PHB, not the 3.5 SRD. The 3.5 PHB is all closed. It does happen to have very similar material to the 3.5 SRD, though.

I wonder what portion of 4e could be shown to be derived from Mike Mearls' prior contributions to OGC.

You could, in theory, do the same thing - "derive" a 4E from the 3.5 SRD.

Yes, I think you could.

I assume everyone realizes this is a purely theoretical discussion.

 

[Morrus]

I assume everyone realizes this is a purely theoretical discussion.

Well, yeah.

It's not like either of us are gonna risk it for a biscuit and put our money where our mouth is. Only way we'd really find out is by trying it.

 

[Orcus]

Guys, I know it is fun to speculate about things, but my gut tells me that there are all sorts of possibilities here. I dont know what is going to happen with the GSL. But I know this--Scott supports open gaming. He and I talked the other day and he cares about it. He gets it. He understands all that stuff. I believe he is fighting for openness. So lets just wait and see what happens before we condemn Wizards. I know for sure there are good people over there -- Scott, Linae, etc -- who want to support open gaming. If the GSL really went back to the drawing board, maybe it wont even be as closed as we all think it is. The point is, no one knows. All we do know is that the people involved on Wizard's end support open gaming. And that is a very, very comforting thing for me to keep in mind. I know, lots of people think I am crazy for believing in Wizards so much, but I am telling you right now I do believe in them and I believe in them 100%.