----- Original Message -----
From: "Brad Thompson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Saturday, August 26, 2000 3:53 PM
Subject: RE: [Open_Gaming] OGF (possible) Final Draft
> Under this new OGL everyone is creating a hybrid work, so the works
> themselves must be treated as if they were unlicensed copyrighted
> documents (which they are) and be handled accordingly. Works can no
> longer be shared between friends, and cannot be collected in
> shareware or freeware archives of documents without the written
> consent of the copyright holders. There will be no public domain
> monster books or spells, and no collaborative works at all unless
> they are governed by a separate license. It seems that
> protectionism has taken over as the primary goal of the OGL, rather
> than the sharing of creative ideas. Indeed, source material is now
> expressly prohibited from becoming Open Gaming Content. I think
> this is a change for the worse, and I don't see how this even comes
> close to meeting the lofty goals that Ryan original championed with
> the OGF.
If you want public domain monster books simply create your own version
of the d20SRD (it's all uncopyrightable rules, right?) and release it
under the GFDL. Now everything that is based on that document will
be Open. It would be quite interesting to see how well a truly Open
system that is technically compatible with D&D would fare against the
the d20SRD and the OGL. I wouldn't be surprised if most fans and
hobbysists went with the GFDL while anyone who wanted to make money
went with the OGL.
-kenan
-------------
For more information, please link to www.opengamingfoundation.org
