Ram Tyr
September 21st, 2005, 19:14
So, I’ve seen enough of these discussions to be motivated to attempt to shed a little light without being overbearing. (I just want to help!) Nothing you read in the following text is legal advice. The average person (not looking to start a business) is not going to pay a lawyer to explain the OGL to them. (If you are starting a business, hire a lawyer now!) However, I do provide you with a way to get the information and make your own mind up about what you read. (And, maybe to ask intelligent questions based on your reading.) The only way that Open Game Content can really be taken advantage of by the community is if they understand it! Leaving things as they stand would discourage innovation. Nobody wants that result. If you disagree with something below, feel free to say so. I encourage discussion.
Before I proceed, let me remind you that everyone that presents an opinion on any legal issue, by definition, adopt a “stance”. (Including me, see below.) You should figure out what their stance is. This is especially true for lawyers. For example, lawyers in criminal cases can look at the same set of facts and disagree over the legal analysis. (Was the defendant in custody for 4th amendment purposes? Was the statement a ‘spontaneous utterance’? Were there exigent circumstances such as to override the legal requirement of obtaining a search warrant? Etc.) This same thing happens in this scenario. So, if Organization A pays a lawyer to ensure that people don’t participate in a certain activity because it ‘violates’ an agreement they rely on, that lawyer will interpret the law in that way. And, the same thing in reverse. Only a judge deciding an actual legal dispute will settle the law, with one side, or the other, or somewhere in between.
What you can do is spend some time looking at official information to become better informed. This is what I have done and what I will use for the discussion that follows. So, my “stance” is a very, very ‘risk averse’ one. I am going to rely on the words of WoTC themselves in the following discussion. This is the absolute safest way to proceed, short of doing nothing, or not sharing new material with the community. Whether I agree or disagree with a statement made by WoTC in their documentation, I will rely on their statements only in the discussion in this post.
Resources:
Check out the Official D20 Homepage
https://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=d20/welcome
There you can find the following:
Official Licenses
• Open Gaming License (12k RTF)
• d20 System License 6.0 (12k RTF)
• d20 System Guide 5.0 (788k RTF)
• Electronic SKU Download (ESD) Conversion Agreement (12k RTF)
System Reference Document
• SRD Main Page
• d20 Modern SRD Page
Official d20 System FAQs
• Concept FAQ
• Trademark FAQ
• SRD FAQ
Official Open Gaming License FAQs
• Open Game Definitions
• Open Gaming Foundation
• Open Gaming License
• Other Licenses
• Software FAQ
For Publishers
• License confirmation card (72k PDF/ZIP)
The OGL is the important document to understand for the purposes of using Open Game Content. I will discuss the OGL more below.
The d20 System License and Guide apply if you want to use the d20 logo and related stuff. For simplicity, I assume that nobody wants to use this. (If you do check the Trademark FAQ.) The Electronic SKU Download Conversion Agreement applies when someone wants to convert an older version of rules to a newer version. (Such as converting 1st Edition to 3rd Edition.) Again, I assume that nobody wants to do this. The FAQs are FAQs, they contain WoTC view on their own policies. (Again, comply with this interpretation to maximize safety from the perceived threat of litigation.)
OGL:
First, after reading the OGL (available as of September 21, 2005), it would seem that paragraphs 1-6 are self explanatory.
Paragraph 7 precludes the use of Product Identity unless you have the permission of the owner of that Product Identity.
Note the following quote from paragraph 1,
’Product Identity’ means product and product line names, logos and identifying marks including trade dress; artifacts; creatures characters; stories, storylines, plots, thematic elements, dialogue, incidents, language, artwork, symbols, designs, depictions, likenesses, formats, poses, concepts, themes and graphic, photographic and other visual or audio representations; names and descriptions of characters, spells, enchantments, personalities, teams, personas, likenesses and special abilities; places, locations, environments, creatures, equipment, magical or supernatural abilities or effects, logos, symbols, or graphic designs; and any other trademark or registered trademark clearly identified as Product identity by the owner of the Product Identity, and which specifically excludes the Open Game Content
The remaining paragraphs 8-15 are self explanatory.
So, the OGL itself is pretty easy to understand. To proceed safely with any Open Game Content project, simply follow the requirements of the License which include: reproducing the text of the license and the appropriate copyright information, and clearly identifying Open Content. Read the documents for how to comply with the OGL, don't rely on that summation! For clarity and completeness, I’ll refer to some of the FAQs for further guidance.
There is an interesting portion of the SRD FAQ that should be noted:
Q: Can you provide the document in other formats?
A: Currently the SRD is only available in RTF format. We may release additional formats in the future. Because the SRD is Open Game Content anyone can distribute the SRD in alternate formats provided they follow the terms of the OGL.
This is what folks are asking to do with FG when they want to use the SRD text, such as for a ruleset, or data on monsters. One of the things to look out for is also mentioned in the SRD FAQ:
Q: How will you handle trademarks from licenses in the System Reference Document?
A: There will not be any trademarked content in the SRD. That means that the SRD will never contain words like "Elminster," "Wookiee," "Jedi," or even "the Force."
In reality, these are examples of “Product Identity”.
The OGL FAQ contains the following portion that is relevant to the discussion in the FG community:
Q: I want to distribute computer software using the OGL. Is that possible?
A: Yes, it's certainly possible. The most significant thing that will impact your effort is that you have to give all the recipients the right to extract and use any Open Game Content you've included in your application, and you have to clearly identify what part of the software is Open Game Content.
One way is to design your application so that all the Open Game Content resides in files that are human-readable (that is, in a format that can be opened and understood by a reasonable person). Another is to have all the data used by the program viewable somehow while the program runs.
Distributing the source code not an acceptable method of compliance. First off, most programming languages are not easy to understand if the user hasnÍt studied the language. Second, the source code is a separate entity from the executable file. The user must have access to the actual Open Content used.
See the Software FAQ for more information.
Which brings us to the Software FAQ, which has an interesting note, which I’ll quote:
NOTE: The biggest problem we’ve found with software and the OGL is that programmers aren’t paying attention to Section 8 of the OGL. Section 8 states: ñIf you distribute Open Game Content You must clearly indicate which portions of the work that you are distributing are Open Content.î This doesn’t mean you can say ñall rules in my program are Openî, the users need to be able to see all that Open Content. You can do this by putting Open Content in a format that is easy to understand. Popular solutions have been to place everything in text files that the program pulls info from, having everything in a viewable database within the software, using Java script on a webpage (viewing the source of the webpage will display the code and Java script is relatively easy for a user to interpret). The key is that the user has to see everything that is Open Content that the program uses and be able to understand it without too much effort. The whole point of the OGL is that once information is declared Open everyone has free access to it under the OGL. Compiling that information into a program denies the user that access and violates the spirit of the Open Gaming License.
Let me note that if you use the OGL but not the d20 License, you are not bound by the restriction against creating an “Interactive Game”. (This is what folks are referring to when they say you cannot ‘automate’ certain functions.) The d20 License contains this restriction, the OGL does not. (This is a perennial favorite issue, so I thought I should mention it.) I think that will be clear to anyone that looks at the various documents.
Ok, so they provide a handy checklist that the FG community should take advantage of:
To conclude, here is a quick checklist of things to do when using the licenses with software:
1 - Decide if you are going to use the d20 System License (allows you to claim compatibility with D&D and to use the d20 Logo). If you use the d20 License remember what you can't do (describe the process for creating a character, meet the definition of an interactive game, etc.)
2 - Make sure Open Content is in a form where the user can see it all. Clearly identify all Open Content and Product Identity.
3 - Include the complete text of the OGL and update Section 15 with the copyright information appropriate with the Open Content you are using.
4 - If you're using the d20 License include the relevant mandatory trademark notices and other required text blocks.
Ok, this is a long, long post. I hope this helps the situation. Please, when you post about this issue be polite and lets spread knowledge rather than fear!
Later.
Ramza
Before I proceed, let me remind you that everyone that presents an opinion on any legal issue, by definition, adopt a “stance”. (Including me, see below.) You should figure out what their stance is. This is especially true for lawyers. For example, lawyers in criminal cases can look at the same set of facts and disagree over the legal analysis. (Was the defendant in custody for 4th amendment purposes? Was the statement a ‘spontaneous utterance’? Were there exigent circumstances such as to override the legal requirement of obtaining a search warrant? Etc.) This same thing happens in this scenario. So, if Organization A pays a lawyer to ensure that people don’t participate in a certain activity because it ‘violates’ an agreement they rely on, that lawyer will interpret the law in that way. And, the same thing in reverse. Only a judge deciding an actual legal dispute will settle the law, with one side, or the other, or somewhere in between.
What you can do is spend some time looking at official information to become better informed. This is what I have done and what I will use for the discussion that follows. So, my “stance” is a very, very ‘risk averse’ one. I am going to rely on the words of WoTC themselves in the following discussion. This is the absolute safest way to proceed, short of doing nothing, or not sharing new material with the community. Whether I agree or disagree with a statement made by WoTC in their documentation, I will rely on their statements only in the discussion in this post.
Resources:
Check out the Official D20 Homepage
https://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=d20/welcome
There you can find the following:
Official Licenses
• Open Gaming License (12k RTF)
• d20 System License 6.0 (12k RTF)
• d20 System Guide 5.0 (788k RTF)
• Electronic SKU Download (ESD) Conversion Agreement (12k RTF)
System Reference Document
• SRD Main Page
• d20 Modern SRD Page
Official d20 System FAQs
• Concept FAQ
• Trademark FAQ
• SRD FAQ
Official Open Gaming License FAQs
• Open Game Definitions
• Open Gaming Foundation
• Open Gaming License
• Other Licenses
• Software FAQ
For Publishers
• License confirmation card (72k PDF/ZIP)
The OGL is the important document to understand for the purposes of using Open Game Content. I will discuss the OGL more below.
The d20 System License and Guide apply if you want to use the d20 logo and related stuff. For simplicity, I assume that nobody wants to use this. (If you do check the Trademark FAQ.) The Electronic SKU Download Conversion Agreement applies when someone wants to convert an older version of rules to a newer version. (Such as converting 1st Edition to 3rd Edition.) Again, I assume that nobody wants to do this. The FAQs are FAQs, they contain WoTC view on their own policies. (Again, comply with this interpretation to maximize safety from the perceived threat of litigation.)
OGL:
First, after reading the OGL (available as of September 21, 2005), it would seem that paragraphs 1-6 are self explanatory.
Paragraph 7 precludes the use of Product Identity unless you have the permission of the owner of that Product Identity.
Note the following quote from paragraph 1,
’Product Identity’ means product and product line names, logos and identifying marks including trade dress; artifacts; creatures characters; stories, storylines, plots, thematic elements, dialogue, incidents, language, artwork, symbols, designs, depictions, likenesses, formats, poses, concepts, themes and graphic, photographic and other visual or audio representations; names and descriptions of characters, spells, enchantments, personalities, teams, personas, likenesses and special abilities; places, locations, environments, creatures, equipment, magical or supernatural abilities or effects, logos, symbols, or graphic designs; and any other trademark or registered trademark clearly identified as Product identity by the owner of the Product Identity, and which specifically excludes the Open Game Content
The remaining paragraphs 8-15 are self explanatory.
So, the OGL itself is pretty easy to understand. To proceed safely with any Open Game Content project, simply follow the requirements of the License which include: reproducing the text of the license and the appropriate copyright information, and clearly identifying Open Content. Read the documents for how to comply with the OGL, don't rely on that summation! For clarity and completeness, I’ll refer to some of the FAQs for further guidance.
There is an interesting portion of the SRD FAQ that should be noted:
Q: Can you provide the document in other formats?
A: Currently the SRD is only available in RTF format. We may release additional formats in the future. Because the SRD is Open Game Content anyone can distribute the SRD in alternate formats provided they follow the terms of the OGL.
This is what folks are asking to do with FG when they want to use the SRD text, such as for a ruleset, or data on monsters. One of the things to look out for is also mentioned in the SRD FAQ:
Q: How will you handle trademarks from licenses in the System Reference Document?
A: There will not be any trademarked content in the SRD. That means that the SRD will never contain words like "Elminster," "Wookiee," "Jedi," or even "the Force."
In reality, these are examples of “Product Identity”.
The OGL FAQ contains the following portion that is relevant to the discussion in the FG community:
Q: I want to distribute computer software using the OGL. Is that possible?
A: Yes, it's certainly possible. The most significant thing that will impact your effort is that you have to give all the recipients the right to extract and use any Open Game Content you've included in your application, and you have to clearly identify what part of the software is Open Game Content.
One way is to design your application so that all the Open Game Content resides in files that are human-readable (that is, in a format that can be opened and understood by a reasonable person). Another is to have all the data used by the program viewable somehow while the program runs.
Distributing the source code not an acceptable method of compliance. First off, most programming languages are not easy to understand if the user hasnÍt studied the language. Second, the source code is a separate entity from the executable file. The user must have access to the actual Open Content used.
See the Software FAQ for more information.
Which brings us to the Software FAQ, which has an interesting note, which I’ll quote:
NOTE: The biggest problem we’ve found with software and the OGL is that programmers aren’t paying attention to Section 8 of the OGL. Section 8 states: ñIf you distribute Open Game Content You must clearly indicate which portions of the work that you are distributing are Open Content.î This doesn’t mean you can say ñall rules in my program are Openî, the users need to be able to see all that Open Content. You can do this by putting Open Content in a format that is easy to understand. Popular solutions have been to place everything in text files that the program pulls info from, having everything in a viewable database within the software, using Java script on a webpage (viewing the source of the webpage will display the code and Java script is relatively easy for a user to interpret). The key is that the user has to see everything that is Open Content that the program uses and be able to understand it without too much effort. The whole point of the OGL is that once information is declared Open everyone has free access to it under the OGL. Compiling that information into a program denies the user that access and violates the spirit of the Open Gaming License.
Let me note that if you use the OGL but not the d20 License, you are not bound by the restriction against creating an “Interactive Game”. (This is what folks are referring to when they say you cannot ‘automate’ certain functions.) The d20 License contains this restriction, the OGL does not. (This is a perennial favorite issue, so I thought I should mention it.) I think that will be clear to anyone that looks at the various documents.
Ok, so they provide a handy checklist that the FG community should take advantage of:
To conclude, here is a quick checklist of things to do when using the licenses with software:
1 - Decide if you are going to use the d20 System License (allows you to claim compatibility with D&D and to use the d20 Logo). If you use the d20 License remember what you can't do (describe the process for creating a character, meet the definition of an interactive game, etc.)
2 - Make sure Open Content is in a form where the user can see it all. Clearly identify all Open Content and Product Identity.
3 - Include the complete text of the OGL and update Section 15 with the copyright information appropriate with the Open Content you are using.
4 - If you're using the d20 License include the relevant mandatory trademark notices and other required text blocks.
Ok, this is a long, long post. I hope this helps the situation. Please, when you post about this issue be polite and lets spread knowledge rather than fear!
Later.
Ramza