On Fri, 31 Jan 2003 03:13:25 +0000, Mike Dymond wrote: >In fact looking at the licence, clauses 6 and 7 are contradictory! >How can I copy the copyright notice which contains the publishers >name which is more than likely PI and then not use that very same PI >to indicate compatibility. Surely including the publishers name in >section 15 does just that, it implies endorsement!
The publisher has voluntarily chosen to comply with the license by putting its name and other information in Section 15. Copying that section exactly is a condition of the license. I can't see how a court would find that it was illegal to use the company's trademark in the manner they proscribed in a Section 15 notice. Especially since any company that believes this is an infringement is committing the same infringement in each of its own OGL works. >I have absolutely no problem with other publishers using the OGC >that I have created, in fact I would actively encourage it, but I >have some severe reservations about them using my company name >without my permission! You've given them permission by putting it in Section 15. Since it's impossible to comply with the OGL without doing that, it's just one of the prices you pay for using the license. Section 11 prevents them from using your company name to market or advertise the book, so that offers some of the protection you're looking for. Regarding your hypothetical scenario, I could see a limited benefit to publishing a module and putting this in a big box on the back cover and the inside front cover: --- 15 COPYRIGHT NOTICE Open Game License v 1.0a Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc. System Reference Document Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. EverQuest: Role-Playing Game: Player's Handbook Copyright 2002, Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. EverQuest: Role-Playing Game: Monsters of Norrath Copyright 2002, Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. EverQuest: Role-Playing Game: Game Master's Guide Copyright 2002, Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. Shadows of Doom Copyright 2003 Nefarious Games --- If you're trying to sell the book to EverQuest fans, all those EverQuest mentions could help a bit, and I don't see how it could be prevented with the present OGL. But how much benefit would this boilerplate legalese offer for a book? I can't imagine many customers would read a copyright notice while browsing for RPGs. (I do, but I'm an OGL geek.) -- Rogers Cadenhead, [EMAIL PROTECTED] on 01/31/2003 Weblog: http://www.cadenhead.org/workbench _______________________________________________ Ogf-l mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.opengamingfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/ogf-l
