Questions about releasing a ruleset..

[kirbol]

Hey all, I ran across a post on this previously, but cannot seem to locate it now..

As a project to learn about FG, I picked up the Earthdawn ruleset from the wiki and began toying around with it. Which kind of snowballed on me, and at this point I've pretty much completed (as far as I can tell anyway) the ruleset. I'm sure the code is not exactly ideal, and could use some cleanup/optimization, but it is fully functional.

Now, I don't want to step on anyone's IP, Copyright, bragging rights, etc, etc, so I'm wondering what the rules are surrounding this.

The ruleset was originally started by Joshua. During the course of my learning/expanding this ruleset I've used code snippets I've found elsewhere (mainly from the 4E ruleset, and the boards here).

For instance, the combat tracker code from the 4E ruleset, which I used as a base point to achieve a reliable, working CT.

A few graphics from the 4E set as well.. indicator icons mostly..

I am relatively certain that any library modules should be skeletons (threaded items get pretty complex, so I figure examples might be in order :D ), and not actually include anything from the ED rulebooks.

Should I just sit on this, or is there any hope I could release this to the community?

[Moon Wizard]

There are a few guidelines that I used when publishing my community rulesets prior to joining SmiteWorks.

* Avoid using any data or text from the rulebooks, unless you have the publisher's approval.
* If I used code from another ruleset, I ask for permission from the creator.

For the d20, 3.5E and 4E rulesets, the ruleset code can be used freely to make community rulesets as long as they are free.

If you are interested in publishing an official ruleset, check out this thread:
https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11156

Cheers,
JPG

[peterb]

Now, I don't want to step on anyone's IP, Copyright, bragging rights, etc, etc, so I'm wondering what the rules are surrounding this.

If you look at the top of the files in the rulesets published on the FG Wiki you'll find a reference to the Open Game Licence (OGL) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Game_License). That license allows you to adapt the ruleset and publish it, as long as you follow the terms of the license.

It's always polite to ask if you want to "borrow" code from a ruleset published under OGL but it's (from a strictly legalese perspective) not an requirement.

Graphics may not be free and it would be wise to ask the creator of the ruleset in question for permission.

The rules of a RPG (as such) lacks copyright protection. So it's OK to implement them in for example LUA code. It may not be OK to copy descriptions of the rules from a published source (that would depend on how original the expression is), so the safe approach is to restate the rules in your own words.

The data contained in a RPG also mostly lack copyright protection. Data about objects, even if they are fictional, are not copyright protected. A collection of data may be protected. That would depend on where in the world you publish the ruleset.

The FG Wiki is owned and hosted by a resident of the EU. The server is physically located in the EU. This means that the laws of EU (and in the case of the wiki, Sweden) governs that site. If you also live in the EU, EU law and national law also governs your use. If you live outside the EU the wiki and you are governed by different laws.

If you live in the EU, the laws regarding copyright of data, means that 99% of all data in a RPG lacks protection. The presentation might be protected, however. It's safe to assume that the data in a weapon table could be mined and reformatted. The same goes for armour tables, price tables and such. The data about spells, skills and creatures can be re-used but not their descriptions.

It's common for RPG companies to claim that the terms used in the game are trademark protected. Such claims are groundless. Terms used in a narrative (such as descriptions of game rules) are not used in the way a term must be used to qualify as a trademark. And even if such terms would be held to be marks, private, non-commercial use of marks falls outside the scope of trademark legislation. This is 100% true for the EU and most of the rest of the world (due to explicit statements in the legal code), except the US, where it's only fairly safe to assume so.

Everything that is said here of course assumes that the ruleset is being made available to the general public. If you keep the ruleset private then you can do pretty much what you want. The rules of fair use, fair dealing and the exceptions to copyright protection used in the EU denies the copyright holder the right to stop you from copying code, graphics, texts etc. The key here is the word "private". In the EU (at least) one may assume that when using a ruleset, when gaming with a group of 5-6 people, is within the context of private use and not distribution to the general public.

Summary:

You can freely use the code of rulesets published under the OGL.
Graphics may not be free and it would be wise to ask the creator of the ruleset in question for permission.
The rules of a RPG (as such) lacks copyright protection.
The data contained in a RPG also mostly lack copyright protection.
Terms used in RPGs are not trademark protected and thus free to use.
These guidelines assume that the ruleset is distributed to the general public. Private use is basically unrestricted.


/Peter Brink

Edit: fixed minor typo and added a final comment

[Oberoten]

A pretty nice summary of the rules. It'd be nice to have this one stickied actually.

- Obe

[drahkar]

Might not be a bad idea to stick that summary onto the wiki section for Rulesets, Obe. If peterb doesn't mind it.

[Foen]

You can freely use the code of rulesets published under the OGL.
Graphics may not be free and it would be wise to ask the creator of the ruleset in question for permission.


A ruleset published under the OGL will state which parts are open (and therefore reuseable) and which parts are product identity (and therefore restricted by copyright). Often the code is open and the graphics are product identity, but that is not always the case. The SmiteWorks Foundation ruleset graphics are open, for example.

The other point worth bearing in mind about OGL derivatives, is that the new ruleset also has to be published with the OGL: you can't lift OGL material and use it without bringing your derivative work into the scope of OGL.

Stuart

[kirbol]

From everything I'm seeing this sounds like good news. On the wiki download page Joshua gives permission for anyone who would like to pick up and finish the ruleset, though I'd probably classify this as more of a fork of his work, as things went in a slightly different direction.

I am doing a little cleanup and packaging right now. Going to release onto the fgwiki shortly (I hope). Anything else I should keep in mind?

[kirbol]

I've put the ruleset up on the fgwiki site ( https://oberoten.dyndns.org/fgwiki/index.php/Earthdawn ) Hopefully correctly... I noticed that the link to Joshua's ruleset was broken before I changed the page..

Any feedback is welcome. Oh, should I post something in the armory as well? (don't want to cross-post unnecessarily)