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WotC Walks Back Some OGL Changes, But Not All
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<blockquote data-quote="Composer99" data-source="post: 8898749" data-attributes="member: 7030042"><p>I would be concerned about a morality clause in an <em>open</em> licensing schema, mostly because of well-meaning people inadvertently misusing it, and somewhat because of the possibility of bad actors "weaponising" it.</p><p></p><p>I don't see anything objectionable about a "morality clause" in a licence that, say, allows use of D&D-themed branding or access to platforms such as DriveThruRPG, Beyond, or even the upcoming D&D VTT - those aren't (indeed, oughtn't be) open licensing schemas.</p><p></p><p>Here I should note that despite the name "Open" in the title, the Cypher System licence (as mentioned upthread) allows the specific use of Cypher branding indicating compatibility - so <em>of course</em> brand protection considerations apply. The OGL itself does not permit publishers to indicate compatibility with D&D nor does it permit them to do so with brand-specific trademarks or references - and indeed several game systems that <em>aren't compatible with D&D at all</em> include the licence!</p><p></p><p>So I think these licences are sufficiently different that a morality clause makes sense in the Cypher licence but not in an OGL.</p><p></p><p>[HR][/HR]</p><p></p><p>I mean, there's <em>kind of</em> a consensus on "revoking 1.0(a)" being (a) terribad, (b) the central objection to WotC's manoeuvring, and (c) likely not possible (but without enough certainty on that point to say for sure) - so I suspect there's not really much more to discuss on that point? Either folks agree with that overall position or they don't, and that's all there is to it.</p><p></p><p>Major remaining points of disagreement have to do with things like morality clauses. Hence why they're coming up in discussion - especially 64 pages into a discussion thread, by which point many tangents and subthreads have usually emerged.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Composer99, post: 8898749, member: 7030042"] I would be concerned about a morality clause in an [I]open[/I] licensing schema, mostly because of well-meaning people inadvertently misusing it, and somewhat because of the possibility of bad actors "weaponising" it. I don't see anything objectionable about a "morality clause" in a licence that, say, allows use of D&D-themed branding or access to platforms such as DriveThruRPG, Beyond, or even the upcoming D&D VTT - those aren't (indeed, oughtn't be) open licensing schemas. Here I should note that despite the name "Open" in the title, the Cypher System licence (as mentioned upthread) allows the specific use of Cypher branding indicating compatibility - so [I]of course[/I] brand protection considerations apply. The OGL itself does not permit publishers to indicate compatibility with D&D nor does it permit them to do so with brand-specific trademarks or references - and indeed several game systems that [I]aren't compatible with D&D at all[/I] include the licence! So I think these licences are sufficiently different that a morality clause makes sense in the Cypher licence but not in an OGL. [HR][/HR] I mean, there's [I]kind of[/I] a consensus on "revoking 1.0(a)" being (a) terribad, (b) the central objection to WotC's manoeuvring, and (c) likely not possible (but without enough certainty on that point to say for sure) - so I suspect there's not really much more to discuss on that point? Either folks agree with that overall position or they don't, and that's all there is to it. Major remaining points of disagreement have to do with things like morality clauses. Hence why they're coming up in discussion - especially 64 pages into a discussion thread, by which point many tangents and subthreads have usually emerged. [/QUOTE]
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