Module sharing and copyright infringement

[Tibius]

Hi , I need a little help here on this subject. I am making a module that I would like to share which deals with potions , specifically part of it is potion recipes which I want to include in the module. These recipes are for potions in the DMG or the SRD. The recipes are generated using the forge of the potion taken from the DMG or SRD and a template that is of my creation . I added a shot of a "recipe of potion of flying" as an example.

if this does infringe on a copyright by me supplying the recipes then I am assuming it would NOT infringe if I released the module and the person who used the module generated the recipes themselves from their own DMG or SRD.


Also is there a link to somewhere that helps me to understand what to include in a module that I would like to share or sell and what I need to include in it as far as legalities. etc.?

Thank you in advance for any help ..

17971

[Zacchaeus]

You can't distribute anything from the DMG. You may be able to distribute things which include stuff from the SRD provided you include the OGL.

[Tibius]

Thank you Zacchaeus, I looked at the SRD and the DMG I compared a few potions between the 2 and they are identical other than the costs.. so distributing the potions from the SRD is not the same as distributing them from the DMG even if they are copies (other than the costs) of the potions from the DMG?.... so then I would be able to write my own potions in the likeness of the DMG and I would be ok to distribute them I am assuming ? where would I get a copy of the OGL to include?

Thank you in advance ..

[Myrdin Potter]

The SRD is fair game as long as you include the OGL text and follow the OGL rules. Smiteworks and the moderators here cannot give you specific legal advice.

If you want to use the full D&D rules and rule books and distribute material, the DMs Guild store is the way that WoTC has opened up for you. So a module with non-SRD material could not be offered here on these forums, but if you follow the rules of www.dmsguild.com then you may be able to do it there.

[LordEntrails]

So, there are two main routes you can go for distributing D&D 5E related content. 1) Using the OGL and any distribution method you wish. 2) Using the rules/licensing of the DMsGuild and distributing only via the DMsGuild.com

1) You can release original 5E content along with the content of the SRD by following the rules of the SRD. Read it, it's not too complicated. But, basically as long as you only reference content from the SRD and you include the full text of the OGL, you can distribute original content however you want. But, if the OGL doesn't make sense to you, you can Google lots of discussions on the topic.

2) You can release original 5E content using the content of the PHB, DMG, and some other WotC sources by following the rules of the DMsGuild. Start by reading the DMsG General Info (https://support.dmsguild.com/hc/en-us/categories/202531048-DMs-Guild-General-Information) page and following the links from there. Release through the DMsG gives you access to the core books, plus names and places in the Forgotten Realms and some (but not all!) other settings/locations.

You can release FG modules that through both of those channels.

Note, I'm not sure the specifics if you copy FG content from the SRD or DMG into your module. Many people have built FG modules using links or references to the official FG content. That way the person who uses your module has to have the official (SRD or DMG) content, so that wya they steer very from from any question of copying or distributing someone else's content.

So, instead of including the text of the potions, you could just link to them and include your recipes.

[Tibius]

Thanks guys I really appreciate the advice and the great links.. this should get me going in the right direction.. Thanks so much again ..I believe I will go the DM guild of sharing my modules.

Thank you.