<<Considering all the time we spend here wrangling over licensing
issues, I thought it was interesting to see how FUDGE creator Steffan
O'Sullivan is dealing with the same kind of talk on his mailing list:>>
Carl & Karen Cravens of Phoenyx.Net own and operate the list, not Steffan O'Sullivan. Doesn't matter much re: your post, but I just thought I'd note that for clarification.
<<
http://www.phoenyx.net/fudge/2002/12/msg00220.html
>>
Since I'm referenced in the post, I figured I'd note that my post being referred to is at:
http://www.phoenyx.net/fudge/2002/12/msg00215.html
I don't participate in FUDGE-L with any frequency any more, but my post was a summary of a long running debate between Dr. Ian McDonald and Steffan O'Sullivan re: interpretations of the FUDGE license. I tried to summarize most of the points I remembered.
The basic premise of the comments back and forth over the last few years:
a) SOS said the FUDGE license was a perpetual duration, multi-item license
b) Dr. McDonald claimed that the license did not clearly address the duration and scope of the rights granted, and should be unambiguously reworded so as to make SOS' claims come into perfect alignment with the language of the pro-publishing license; Ian and some other would-be publishers wanted the license to be specific so that they could guarantee a specific term (or a perpetual license -- for the duration of the copyright) for their publishing endeavors so that a license couldn't be pulled out from under them "at will"
c) SOS later agreed that he could probably yank pro-licenses with reasonable notice
Dr. McDonald's vision for the FUDGE marketplace and license are at:
http://fudge.phoenyx.net/guide/bin/view/Guide/ManifestoForFudgeBecomingMainstream
<<
Basically, you can only debate licensing issues with him if you use snailmail and enclose $100 with your letter!
>>
Yes, and then, there's no guarantee he'll respond to the licensing issues. That fee was not to open a debate, but only to read when you wrote to him.
The big issues:
FUDGE's trademark status keeps floating around. It wasn't trademarked, then it was, then it wasn't. Now Grey Ghost Games is considering a new license to allow people to use a trademarked graphical "FUDGE System" logo on products, to work in tandem with the FUDGE copyright license. Probably a good idea, since the FUDGE license was initially intended as a copyright license and not a trademark license. GGG also announced some time back that they want some sort of option that people can use if they want to turn their work into a quasi-viral license a la the OGL.
Ann Dupuis of GGG has some interesting ideas about the direction FUDGE should take in the marketplace.
Most of this discussion has drifted over from FUDGE-L to a private FudgeLegal list operated by GGG, and also onto the FUDGE-L publishing sub-group operated by Carl Cravens. To her credit, Ann Dupuis of GGG is currently in the process of taking positive steps to resolve these licensing queries and to develop the next version of the FUDGE licenses.
I think Ann's efforts may help advance the interest of some folks who were considering pro-publishing with FUDGE but who were waiting for the next licensing revision.
It's been interesting to follow the interaction between the parties. It is REALLY clear that amateur publishers have NO interest in any kind of licensing at all, and want to do the bare minimum not to get sued and want to focus just on playing. The pro-publishers and potential pro-publishers are a very divided over how the license should read to create enough publishing interest in FUDGE to generate a critical mass of FUDGE products necessary to expand its market share.
Unlike the OGF-L list, however, there are no lawyers at all involved in the discussions on FUDGE-L, relying on a lot of ad hoc legal research and speculation on all sides.
Hopefully Ann's efforts will bring closure to this issue sometime in 2003, and get some more people on board for using FUDGE more broadly as a publishing platform. It'll also be interesting to see if the FUDGE license moves closer toward where the OGL and d20 licenses are in terms of automatic approval for publishers willing to adhere to the terms of the license.
Lee
