tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904133056957353312.post7259080225090253698..comments2024-03-01T11:52:44.729-05:00Comments on Bat in the Attic: An OGL PrimerRobert Conleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03863009007381185340noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904133056957353312.post-13514087607708697292015-09-27T15:57:07.832-04:002015-09-27T15:57:07.832-04:00@Brett Slocum
You copy their section 15 however t...@Brett Slocum<br /><br />You copy their section 15 however they have it.<br />Robert Conleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03863009007381185340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904133056957353312.post-59932405314682540762015-09-27T13:47:43.536-04:002015-09-27T13:47:43.536-04:00If one is basing their work off another OGL work, ...If one is basing their work off another OGL work, do you copy the entire Section 15 of that work? Or just the copyright of that work? Brett Slocumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09240226222507995367noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904133056957353312.post-88811601491085906532015-09-27T13:03:44.020-04:002015-09-27T13:03:44.020-04:00(All the rules for how to use the OGL are in the O...(All the rules for how to use the OGL are in the OGl.) From Section 6: "You must update the COPYRIGHT NOTICE portion of this License to include the exact text of the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any Open Game Content You are copying..."<br />And since the Copyright Notice is Section 15, that means you need all of it. Guy Fullertonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12034114718540912559noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904133056957353312.post-53490331151222223742015-09-27T11:11:28.721-04:002015-09-27T11:11:28.721-04:00If one is basing their work off another OGL work, ...If one is basing their work off another OGL work, do you copy the entire Section 15 of that work? Or just the copyright of that work? Brett Slocumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09240226222507995367noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904133056957353312.post-59906323694383715362015-06-22T03:47:07.126-04:002015-06-22T03:47:07.126-04:00I meant US state laws on *unregistered* marks, of ...I meant US state laws on *unregistered* marks, of course.Simonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01173759805310975320noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904133056957353312.post-73313885945040463512015-06-20T08:31:58.527-04:002015-06-20T08:31:58.527-04:00"What does registering a trademark get you? N..."What does registering a trademark get you? Namely the right to use for damages when your trademark. The best you can do with a unregistered trademark is sue to get somebody to STOP from infringing your mark."<br /><br />I'm not an expert on US state laws on registered marks, but I am an expert on the English law equivalent and that seems pretty unlikely to me. In the equivalent English law a misuse of unregistered marks certainly can get damages in the law of Passing Off, and I'd be amazed if damages were never available in US law. Perhaps you can't get statutory or punitive damages, only damages for provable loss? In the UK you can generally not get punitive damages anyway.Simonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01173759805310975320noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904133056957353312.post-91401497511488430162015-06-19T15:32:19.597-04:002015-06-19T15:32:19.597-04:00Very interesting -- a nice informative post for th...Very interesting -- a nice informative post for the uninitiated like me. :)Chris C.https://www.blogger.com/profile/08655640273250716377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904133056957353312.post-6367723743271377232015-06-19T15:23:56.138-04:002015-06-19T15:23:56.138-04:00@Follow Me and Die, fixed the link.@Follow Me and Die, fixed the link.Robert Conleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03863009007381185340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904133056957353312.post-89032120100500221592015-06-19T15:13:10.840-04:002015-06-19T15:13:10.840-04:00#2 is also a right you’re giving up: product ident...#2 is also a right you’re giving up: product identity is specifically those things that are not restricted by IP law but that the original author wants restricted; things like some monster names, some place names in the SRD, for example (actually, despite listing a handful of monster and place names, it also includes “proper names” and “places” generically as product identity).<br /><br />Under normal circumstances, names cannot be copyrighted, and trademarking only restricts their use insofar as implying an official connection for marketing purposes.Jerryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12518234031222836203noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904133056957353312.post-82732971397598571272015-06-19T13:31:40.583-04:002015-06-19T13:31:40.583-04:00FYI - Your Blackmarsh SRD zip file link gives a do...FYI - Your Blackmarsh SRD zip file link gives a does not exist (404) error...<br /><br /> The requested URL /downloa...kmarsh_srd.zip was not found on this server.Follow Me And Diehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04118573023293179592noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904133056957353312.post-56665118909038548482015-06-19T13:06:01.048-04:002015-06-19T13:06:01.048-04:00I think you miss my point. I _like_ that the OGL e...I think you miss my point. I _like_ that the OGL exists. I have made a small amount of content available via the OGL. I have helped others make content available via the OGL; specifically regarding the mechanics of the OGL itself. (Full disclosure: But most of my published RPG content does not rely on the OGL.)<br /><br />My point here is about _bad advice_, not the OGL specifically. Your implication that publishing via the OGL obviates the need for legal consultation (at least compared to other licensing situations) is bad advice.<br /><br />Experience can help obviate the need for legal consultation, and there _is_ a good bit of shared experience to rely on (for OGL or otherwise).<br /><br />But misinformation (like your assertion about #4) only erodes the shared pool of experience.Guy Fullertonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12034114718540912559noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904133056957353312.post-25742932288767994142015-06-19T12:54:10.750-04:002015-06-19T12:54:10.750-04:00@Guy Fullerton, yes you lose control over what fur...@Guy Fullerton, yes you lose control over what further uses or changes your material is put too. That the whole point of open content that it is free for anybody to use for any legal purpose. <br /><br />If that something you are not comfortable for your material then don't open it. It is that simple. <br /><br />And it not like you are not getting something in return either. For some it means getting to play in the Dungeons & Dragons. For others, like for my Blackmarsh, it is a better way to get the material out into everybody hands. It not a universal panacea for all ills like some advocates will state. It is a tool. My post is to help people to use that tool for their own purpose whatever it may be.<br /> <br /><br />Robert Conleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03863009007381185340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904133056957353312.post-15679168445501583322015-06-19T12:49:54.385-04:002015-06-19T12:49:54.385-04:00Proven false? Huh?Proven false? Huh?Guy Fullertonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12034114718540912559noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904133056957353312.post-77946107632267187512015-06-19T12:47:22.157-04:002015-06-19T12:47:22.157-04:00As for your second comment, the point of open lice...As for your second comment, the point of open license is to remove uncertainty. It is a formal way of saying "Yeah it is OK to copy X under Y conditions". The problem that result as from people using things they do NOT have permission for. Sometimes this result from the original author not marking open content clearly and sometimes this results from the new author not paying attention to what he is using.<br /><br />But it is not complicated and we are in the 15th year of widespread use of open content. Dozens of individuals have successfully fulfilled the terms of the various licenses and are able to resuse open content. All without needing a lawyer to approve every i we dot and every t we cross. <br /><br />I have nothing against using lawyers in this case you are rehash old arguments that have been proven false. What has been proven if that if you are careless and don't do your homework it will bite you in the ass. Which is why I strongly advise just put away the printed books and use the SRDs as your only reference especially if starting out.<br /><br />Robert Conleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03863009007381185340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904133056957353312.post-32143111565618992452015-06-19T12:26:49.664-04:002015-06-19T12:26:49.664-04:00That's the rub: It's hard to spell them ou...That's the rub: It's hard to spell them out, because some of them are open-ended. People would be foolish to think any list could be exhaustive. One example is attribution (relevant in James Spahn's case four months ago): By making your content Open, you lose control over attribution; you sacrifice all power to require specific attribution beyond the section 15 attribution the OGL requires. You also sacrifice power to limit the amount of change made. Or tastefulness. Or whatever. There are lots of desires a publisher might have about how their work might be used, even if they want others to build on it; the OGL allows others to ignore all those other considerations. (That's specifically why various publishers license out _other_ IP, usually trademarks, with strings attached that allow the publisher some measure of control over the things they want to control.)<br /><br />On a more concrete level, by using other OGL content, a publisher sacrifices the full breadth of options for repairing breaches. If the owner of the used content makes a demand, you must comply in a very specific way; you are not free to exercise the usual challenges.Guy Fullertonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12034114718540912559noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904133056957353312.post-20257428306457239772015-06-19T12:12:16.292-04:002015-06-19T12:12:16.292-04:00Guy Fullerton on #4 don't be coy spell out wha...Guy Fullerton on #4 don't be coy spell out what other rights you are losing rather than spreading fear and uncertainty.Robert Conleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03863009007381185340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904133056957353312.post-51867119962230356312015-06-19T11:33:06.640-04:002015-06-19T11:33:06.640-04:00IMPORTANT: The other reason your implication is ba...IMPORTANT: The other reason your implication is bad advice is because it ignores the other end of the publishing situation. Regardless of whether you access stuff via the OGL or not, you may still be subject of a copyright infringement situation. You can be subject even for unintentional or inadvertent violations that you make, such as in the content that you thought was totally original but doesn't turn out to be. If an author doesn't know what the consequences might be for that, they would be well served by speaking with an attorney before publishing, REGARDLESS of whether they rely on the OGL, or nominative use, or a separate license, or something else entirely!Guy Fullertonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12034114718540912559noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904133056957353312.post-44773384330451265492015-06-19T10:23:49.063-04:002015-06-19T10:23:49.063-04:00IMPORTANT: #4 is not the only right you are giving...IMPORTANT: #4 is not the only right you are giving up. And this is exactly why your implication that you don't need to bother consulting a lawyer, regarding OGL-based publishing, is bad advice.Guy Fullertonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12034114718540912559noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904133056957353312.post-84715441416925843332015-06-19T09:58:03.934-04:002015-06-19T09:58:03.934-04:00IANAL, but that last bit isn't quite true. Yo...IANAL, but that last bit isn't quite true. You have to register your copyright (prior to the infringement) in order to recover statutory damages and lawyers fees. Actual damages can always be recovered. At least according to http://copyright.gov/circs/circ01.pdf<br /><br />Of course demonstrating actual damages from infringement can be difficult, particularly if they just copied part of your work and incorporated it into their own (as opposed to, say, selling bootleg copies of your work).Joshua Macyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10838733328132877699noreply@blogger.com