Hello,
kevin kenan wrote:
> Rules include all of the game-mechanical details of anything you create. If
> you describe your new races using phrases like "...their serpent-like
> physique gives them +2 dexterity" then those elements of your IP are
> required to be Open under the OGL.
I wanted to make a knowledgable responce to this, but found the knowledge part
lacking. :-) So here is a question of my own.
Now derivitave seems to be used in some important parts of the license.
"Open Game Content" means any work covered by this License, including
translations and derivative works under copyright
law. "Contributors" means the copyright and/or trademark owners of material
identified as Open Game Content.
This is the definition of Derived i have from the FAQ:
>From the U.S. COPYRIGHT OFFICE:
A �derivative work,� is a work that is based on (or derived
from) one or more already existing works. It is
copyrightable if it includes what the copyright law calls
an �original work of authorship.� Derivative works,
also known as �new versions,� include such works as
translations, musical arrangements, dramatizations,
fictionalizations, art reproductions, and condensations.
Any work in which the editorial revisions, annotations,
elaborations, or other modifications represent, as a whole,
an original work of authorship is a �derivative
work� or �new version.� A typical example of a derivative
work received for registration in the Copyright
Office is one that is primarily a new work but incorporates
some previously published materiel. This
previously published material makes the work a derivative
work under the copyright law. To be copyrightable,
a derivative work must be different enough from the
original to be regarded as a �new work� or must contain a
substantial amount of new material. Making minor changes
or additions of little substance to a preexisting
work will not qualify the work as a new version for
copyright purposes. The new material must be original and
copyrightable in itself. Titles, short phrases, and
format, for example, are not copyrightable.
If material derived from the OGL must be released under the OGL, and a derived
work "Any work in which the editorial revisions, annotations, elaborations, or
other modifications represent, as a whole, an original work of authorship is a
�derivative work� or �new version.� A typical example of a derivative work
received for registration in the Copyright Office is one that is primarily a new
work but incorporates some previously published materiel."
<I knew i should have paid closer attention to the derivative thread. :-) >
Than anything that uses any OGL documents are going to be derivatives of that
OGL document, even if it only uses one line from the original OGL document.
<Please bear with me, i'm trying to work it all out in my head. ;-) >
> This is how you will lose control of your
> IP. If you want to retain control of your IP and you are going to use the
> OGL, you are facing serious risk if you do not hire a skilled IP attorney to
> review everything you publish.
>
> > Just because someone comes along and says "Wow, those are cool rules, *I*
> > should have thought of them. Hey wait, I just did, now they're open",
> > doesn't give you the right to do so.
> >
> > What it all comes down to is that I, as the creator and publisher of my
> > work, have the right to make open what I *choose* to make open, and to
> close
> > what I think should be closed. Would I be an ass and close everything in
> my
> > book for cover to cover? Sure. But I do have that right.
>
> Unfortunately, this is not the case under the OGL. Ryan has said that it is
> doubtful that anyone could create a work that used the OGL and was
> completely Closed. Be careful! Hire an attorney to protect your IP!
>
> -kenan
>
> -------------
> For more information, please link to www.opengamingfoundation.org
--
Infinite Possibilities at the Game District
http://www.gamedistrict.com/center.shtml
Unified Universe at the Game District
Expanding the possibilities of the D20 System
http://gamedistrict.com/UUConstruction.html
Home of the OGL Webring - Open Gaming with the OGL
http://gamedistrict.com/OGL.html
-------------
For more information, please link to www.opengamingfoundation.org
