--- woodelf <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:[i seem to have forgotten to send this, and while theoriginal thread is long-since dead, i'd say it has some relevance to current discussions, so i'll still make my point.]
At 14:23 -0700 7/23/03, Fred wrote:
>Can you give an example of PI in some actual work that is trivial to >circumvent?
"d20". -- I simply take the term from, say, Palladium Fantasy.
Please cite the actual work where this is declared PI, and why the fact that it appears in Palladium Fantasy makes it trivial to circumvent the PI clause of the D20 license.
Yes, you can use the term without worrying about copyright, but that's not germaine to the discussion.
D20SRD, latest revision: "The following items are designated Product Identity, as defined in Section 1(e) of the Open Game License Version 1.0a, and are subject to the conditions set forth in Section 7 of the OGL, and are not Open Content: ... d20 (when used as a trademark),..."
The WotC OGL also requires you to not use trademarks, even when such use might otherwise be permissible. "D20" (without qualification) is claimed as a trademark in the D&D3.5E books.
However, "d20" appears in numerous RPG books prior to the publication of D&D3E, or the release of the D20STL, etc. In none of these works was it claimed as a trademark. Therefore, the term is already out there, effectively in the public domain. Assuming the "eraser" theory of PI is correct, as Ryan himself pointed out, any PI claim that is made on a term or phrase that is too minor for copyright protection, already in the common lexicon, and couldn't merit trademark protection is probably pointless--i can just go get the term from a source that doesn't declare it PI (such as one not released under the WotC OGL). The claim i was respodnig to wasn't that the PI clause, in toto, could be circumvented, just that the PI [declaration] itself could be.
-- woodelf <*> [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://webpages.charter.net/woodelph/
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