Not to sound ignorant but what is the SRD?
Steelight Shadowborne
From: Scott Broadbent <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [Ogf-l] D20 OGL Date: Thu, 12 Aug 2004 01:17:42 -0400
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I am very new to this but I would like to know what counts as PI and what I can use. I'm also really confused as to what kind of stuff I can use, what I need written permission for and what I simply cannot include.
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Every few months a particular discussion regarding PI resurfaces in various forms.
There are two interpretations as to how PI works. The first (and the original method) was to simply identify terms that even if they appeared within OGC, they were not. If you found another source using those same terms (OGC in another product, the public domain, etc), you could still use those terms, even if some of the OGC you wanted to use had those same terms as PI. For instance, if someone PI'd "Zeus", it's essentially meaningless. This is the "White-Out" method.
The other interpretation is called the "Forbidden Terms" method. If you use OGC from a source and they declare some terms as PI, you can't use those terms regardless if you find a separate source. If someone PI'd the term "Zeus" and you choose to reuse from that source, you would be prevented from using the term "Zeus".
In addition, under the "White Out" theory, only those terms which actually appear within a section of OGC, could actually be declared as PI. Some companies declare their logos as PI. Unless the logo is actually used within a section of OGC there is no need to PI it, and the declaration doesn't protect it anymore than normal trademark status would.
Under the Forbidden Terms theory, terms can (and will) be declared PI, even if they don't even exist in the section of OGC. For an example, check the SRD. None of the terms WotC identifies as PI actually appear anywhere in the SRD. None.
-- Scott Fantages Studios: http://www.fantages Studios
Darkfire, Wrestle
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