[Ogf-l] "Creative" Arranging of Section 15

[The Sigil]

IANAL, but here is how I personally interpret it... the quick answer is that by using the OGL you give express written permission for folks to use anything found in your Section 15 � provided they do so within their own Section 15. Let�s look at the various points of the license that I believe justify this view.

6.Notice of License Copyright: You must update the COPYRIGHT NOTICE portion of this License to include the exact text of the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any Open Game Content You are copying, modifying or distributing, and You must add the title, the copyright date, and the copyright holder's name to the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any original Open Game Content you Distribute.

Look at the second portion of point 6 of the OGL. This *requires* Company A, as the copyright holder, to add the title, date, and name of the copyright holder to Section 15 if they distribute any original OGC (meaning that a simple collection/re-print does NOT have to have Company A�s name in the Section 15).

3.Offer and Acceptance: By Using the Open Game Content You indicate Your acceptance of the terms of this License.

By point three, when Company A uses the OGL, it explicitly accepts term 6 (above). Therefore, it is required to add its name into Section 15 of its own original works.

6.Notice of License Copyright: You must update the COPYRIGHT NOTICE portion of this License to include the exact text of the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any Open Game Content You are copying, modifying or distributing, and You must add the title, the copyright date, and the copyright holder's name to the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any original Open Game Content you Distribute.

I quote it again, because now we will look at what Company A is requiring of Company B (who might want to re-use your content). This, to me, appears to be express (though limited) written permission to use a company name. When Company A publishes under the OGL, it expressly requires of Company B to include the Copyright Notice of Company A�s Section 15 in Company B�s Section 15; that seems to be not only permission, but a mandate. IANAL, but my personal understanding is that if you REQUIRE someone to do something as part of a license, you have by default granted them PERMISSION to do that very thing. I cannot imagine a legal scenario where one could argue that it is possible to contractually require something of another party and simultaneously deny them permission sufficient to comply with your requirement. Hence, you have, within the context of the Open Game License itself, written permission to use your company�s name et al � provided it is in the context of Section 15. It may not be expressly spelled out as "permission" but I can think of no reading of "you are required by me to do this" that does not of necessity imply "you have permission from me to do this." Remember, when Company B re-uses content, they are entering into a license with Company A as a "Contributor" as well as with WotC (or anyone else) � note that the license is between "Contributors" and "You" (in this example, WotC and Company A are "Contributors" and Company B is "You"). Hence, I would tend to think that a judicial review of the OGL would return a verdict of "because of the requirement to include/copy Section 15 inherent in the OGL, express written permission is given to use names, et al in the context of complying with Section 6 when compiling Section 15."

11. Use of Contributor Credits: You may not market or advertise the Open Game Content using the name of any Contributor unless You have written permission from the Contributor to do so.

Company B does have written permission from Company A to use its name in Section 15 (by the terms of Section 6). If Company B tries to "twist" the license, as you have suggested, by placing Section 15 prominently on its cover (or what have you), that is (unfortunately, perhaps) its perogative.

If you don�t like that possibility, don�t publish under the OGL - or create your own version of an OGL (though you will not be able to use WotC/d20-derived material with that) which adds section 14-and-a-half - "the OGL notice must be in 10-point Times New Roman Font and may only be contained on the final pages of the book (but specifically excluding the back cover)". I find it odd, though, that nobody else seems to have entertained the notion as a viable sales option except for you. Everyone else has quickly dismissed it, while you continue to vociferously advocate it. I hate to be rude, but this suggests to me that the most likely candidate to try to turn this trick is not another company but is, in fact, your own company � as it is the only company that (as far as I can tell) has NOT dismissed this as a viable option. I really hope I�m wrong about that.

It might also be noted that while you could probably put "Green Ronin" (to use your example) in big, bold, Times New Roman font on the cover of your product, you could probably be hit with copyright infringement if you tried to duplicate their "trade dress" by color scheme and font selection - the OGL specifically prohibits you from using "trade dress" and the grant of permission to re-use a name in Section 15 nowhere grants permission to use that name AND trade dress or use the name in a trade-dress-infringing manner.

Again, IANAL, but there is my 2 cents.

--The Sigil

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