From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of JoMaC2k
Sent: Friday, December 22, 2000 12:56 AM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: How did Star wars do it? was: RE: Superheroes (was Re:
[Open_Gaming] I would hate to see everything be d20
<< Now, what I want to talk about. you said you can't make a stand-alone box
and still conform to the d20. So My question is how did Star Wars do it? I
see the horribly tiny d20 logo on the back. and it is a stand alone game.
Did it somehow step around the rules because it's parent owns the d20? >>
"Step around" sounds a little -- I don't know, shady? But you're essentially
correct. The OGL forbids you from treading on the trademarks of others:
****************************************************************
7. Use of Product Identity: You agree not to Use any Product Identity,
including as an indication as to compatibility, except as expressly licensed
in another, independent Agreement with the owner of each element of that
Product Identity. You agree not to indicate compatibility or co-adaptability
with any Trademark or Registered Trademark in conjunction with a work
containing Open Game Content except as expressly licensed in another,
independent Agreement with the owner of such Trademark or Registered
Trademark. The use of any Product Identity in Open Game Content does not
constitute a challenge to the ownership of that Product Identity. The owner
of any Product Identity used in Open Game Content shall retain all rights,
title and interest in and to that Product Identity.
****************************************************************
So IF Wizards chose to release OGL product using any of their OWN
trademarks, they would merely need to make "another, independent Agreement"
with themselves.
But they need not do even that:
1. D&D 3E is not OGC. The proposed SRD may be released as OGC; but D&D
isn't.
2. The D20 system is not OGC. Again, the SRD may be sometime (soon, I
hope!); but D20 itself isn't.
3. The Star Wars game is not OGC. Whether it ever becomes so is in the hands
of George Lucas. (Don't hold your breath...)
So the Star Wars game -- its rules, its packaging, its marketing -- is in no
way constrained by the OGL. Rather, it is constrained by private agreements
between Lucas and Wizards.
Martin L. Shoemaker
Emerald Software, Inc. -- Custom Software and UML Training
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.EmeraldSoftwareInc.com
www.UMLBootCamp.com
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