Re: [Open_Gaming] Non-D20 Reference Documents

[lizard]

Dallas Bolyard wrote:
> 
> Lizard said:
> 
> >>the eeeevil corporations STEAL all your k00l stuph that you put on
> your web site (in between the scanned Elmore paintings and "Playing
> Half-Elf Bladesingers In The World Of Darkness" netbooks) and then make
> profit$$$ off it without paying you!<<
> 
> I would think this would be a bad thing. Granted alot of the stuff out thier
> on fan sites is of questionable quality/legality, but every once in awhile
> you can find a real gem. With the OGL and the D20SRD a compnay "could" steal
> a work and sell it legally perhaps with a little modification.

No, they couldn't.

Why?

Because work published under the OGL is FREE FOR ANYONE TO USE, PURSUANT
TO THE TERMS OF THE OGL.

It cannot be 'stolen'.[1]

It cannot be 'pirated'.[1]

No modification is needed. If Ryan Dancey is cruising the net and likes
someones' "Dwarven Dragonslayer" prestige class -- and that class is
properly published under the OGL -- then WOTC can publish it next week,
verbatim. The author gets credit, but that's all WOTC is legally obliged
to provide. (Ethically/morally is a separate issue.)

[1]Assuming that the 'pirate' obeys the terms of the OGL.
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