Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon 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 Next
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
*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!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
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
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
Publishing Business & Licensing
WotC Talks OGL... Again! Draft Coming Jan 20th With Feedback Survey; v1 De-Auth Still On
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="Bagpuss" data-source="post: 8905830" data-attributes="member: 3987"><p>While the rules are technically intellectual property (as in they are someone's idea originally) they aren't protected by any laws you can't patent, copyright or trademark system mechanics of a game.</p><p></p><p>The rules weren't given away by the OGL they were already free game.</p><p></p><p>However it could be argued in court that a specific expression of a games mechanics might fall under copyright (the same words in the same order, rather than the idea). They couldn't protect d20+number vs TN as a mechanic, but they could perhaps persuade a judge that someone specially mentioning Base Attack Value + Stat modifier + d20 versus an opponent's Armor Class, might be copyrighted, especially if expressed in the exact same why as the PHB. They might also try and claim adventures using D&D rules are "derivative works" and sue/send cease & desist letters that way. Which is what T$R use to do a lot of when it controlled DnD back before 3rd Ed.</p><p></p><p>WotC OGL is basically an gentleman's agreement not to take these matters to court so long as you don't use certain stuff, we say is our IP like Beholder's, certain spells, character's etc. You can use what you are technically already entitled to use, better yet here's an SRD so you don't have to reinvent the goblin or other common creature (which legally we could never claim is our IP, but we might have been able to say it's stat block is), or a load of spells that a common in literature like Fireball, etc. That way you can make the stuff to support our game that is needed but never make a huge profit for us (like adventures or obscure sourcebooks) and we can focus on the big ticket items.</p><p></p><p>The point is no one wants to go to court, because that cost money. At least that was the case when the OGL first came into being, when WotC weren't as big as they are now. Also at the time the people in charge of WotC had vision and saw how the OGL would lead to the expansion of D&D getting lots of support and d20 becoming a platform for the industry, driving sales of their core product.</p><p></p><p>Things have changed, those visionaries have left the company and it is now run by an exec producer with a background in computer games and monetization of the same. The have a much bigger bank balance and market share and perhaps now they are willing to back up their new "OGL" in court. Although I suspect it is still something they would rather not do, because it might not go their way and it is still money even if they have the bankroll nowdays.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Bagpuss, post: 8905830, member: 3987"] While the rules are technically intellectual property (as in they are someone's idea originally) they aren't protected by any laws you can't patent, copyright or trademark system mechanics of a game. The rules weren't given away by the OGL they were already free game. However it could be argued in court that a specific expression of a games mechanics might fall under copyright (the same words in the same order, rather than the idea). They couldn't protect d20+number vs TN as a mechanic, but they could perhaps persuade a judge that someone specially mentioning Base Attack Value + Stat modifier + d20 versus an opponent's Armor Class, might be copyrighted, especially if expressed in the exact same why as the PHB. They might also try and claim adventures using D&D rules are "derivative works" and sue/send cease & desist letters that way. Which is what T$R use to do a lot of when it controlled DnD back before 3rd Ed. WotC OGL is basically an gentleman's agreement not to take these matters to court so long as you don't use certain stuff, we say is our IP like Beholder's, certain spells, character's etc. You can use what you are technically already entitled to use, better yet here's an SRD so you don't have to reinvent the goblin or other common creature (which legally we could never claim is our IP, but we might have been able to say it's stat block is), or a load of spells that a common in literature like Fireball, etc. That way you can make the stuff to support our game that is needed but never make a huge profit for us (like adventures or obscure sourcebooks) and we can focus on the big ticket items. The point is no one wants to go to court, because that cost money. At least that was the case when the OGL first came into being, when WotC weren't as big as they are now. Also at the time the people in charge of WotC had vision and saw how the OGL would lead to the expansion of D&D getting lots of support and d20 becoming a platform for the industry, driving sales of their core product. Things have changed, those visionaries have left the company and it is now run by an exec producer with a background in computer games and monetization of the same. The have a much bigger bank balance and market share and perhaps now they are willing to back up their new "OGL" in court. Although I suspect it is still something they would rather not do, because it might not go their way and it is still money even if they have the bankroll nowdays. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
Publishing Business & Licensing
WotC Talks OGL... Again! Draft Coming Jan 20th With Feedback Survey; v1 De-Auth Still On
Top