By and large you look, legally good. But as I'm not a lawyer, you shouldn't believe me.I am new to the Open Game world and am looking to publish some OGL and/or d20 materials on the Internet.
In an exercise to learn the legal information posting requirements for d20 System licensed products I have created the following fake sample legal statement. I would appreciate any advice or comments on what I did wrong. You can comment here or e-mail me direct. Thanks for your time.
I do have some comments on your declarations, re: best practices.
Why bother with this declaration? It's not necessary, it feels redundant, and it's wrong. The presence of the OGL in a work is not a blanket requirement for use; insofar as the law allows, OGC can be used just like any other text.Notice of Open Game Content:
Portions of this publication contain Open Game Content as defined under the Open Game License Version 1.0a. Open Game Content may only be Used under and in terms of the Open Game License.
I'll take care of the OGC first, as OGC is really the meat of any Open Gaming work and the only text that the OGL really effects.
Designation of Open Gaming Content:Please, please, PLEASE don't make a designation based on an assumption that your reader has access to or knowledge of any other work. Doing so may violate the OGL as not being "clearly identified", and it functionally castrates the Safe Harbor that the OGL was designed to create.
With the exception of Product Identity, the text of all Races, Classes, Skills, Feats, Equipment, Weapons, Magic Items and Spells adopted from the System Reference Document and the Modern System Reference Document herein are considered Open Game Content.
All Stat Blocks, excepting the name or proper name associated with the Stat Block and any Product Identity included within, are Open Game Content.Again, don't assume that "Stat Block" is going to stand up for observation or in court. You may as well say "game rule" or "stuff that should be open gaming content." It may be a good idea, both stylistically and compliance-wise, to use a distinctive typesetting to denote stat blocks if those are the bulk of your OGC. ("All single-spaced paragraphs with minor left and right insets that detail a creature", or "all text contained within a thin black border" are two sample definitions.)
Also, realize that there is subsantial goodwill and market value avaliable through re-use of Open Gaming Content. Whenever possible, please leave the names marked as Open Gaming Content; this allows for easy recognition by players of your unique contributions to Open Gaming--plus, it's not necessary to exclude Product Identity from OGC in the OGC designation, as the license already does that quite succinctly. (if you must include such a qualifier, it's better to place it in the PI designation.)
All text in Chapter 7, "The Silly Mechanic", is hereby designated as Open Game Content.The last example is direct, clear, leaves nothing to be misinterpreted.
In my opinion, the best practice for an Open Gaming work is to mark all of the text as Open Gaming Content, excluding any excerpts and quotes to which you do not have the right to contribute or which to keep closed for your own reasons. If you have a great deal of text that you must open and text that you must close, consier a typesetting device to clearly denote which is which.
Just whatever you do, please don't include "and any other text derivitive of other Open Gaming Content" in your designation. In the unlikely event that someone takes you to task for not marking Open Gaming Content, a one-line qualifier does not seem likely to save your stock.
Now, on to the PI, wherein you keep your distinctive line and company marks and IP seperate from OGC. (It's useful to think of PI as "anti-OGC"; mark text that's likely to be intermixed with OGC that you absolutely do not want to have become OGC as PI.)
The above is, essentially, a "everything that can possibly be PI is PI" clause. Please don't do it. It is considered by many to be blatant misuse of the license, plus it places an undue burden on downstream publishers to sift through your work for useable elements.Designation of Product Identity:
All material other than game rules already considered Open Gaming Content is considered Product Identity as described in Section 1(e) of the Open Game License Version 1.0a. This includes, but is not limited to, product and product line names, logos and identifying marks including trade dress; artifacts; creatures, characters; stories, storylines, plots, thematic elements, dialogue, incidents, language, artwork, symbols, designs, depictions, likenesses, formats, poses, concepts, themes and graphic, photographic and other visual or audio representations; names and descriptions of characters, spells, enchantments, personalities, teams, personas, likenesses and special abilities, places, locations, environments, countries, creatures, geographic locations, gods, historic events, equipment, magic items, magical or supernatural abilities or effects, organizations, logos, symbols, or graphic designs; and any other trademark or registered trademark clearly identified as Product identity by the owner of the Product Identity, and which specifically excludes the Open Game Content.
Naming specific trademarks (which can be registered or unregistered for all the OGL cares--though it is polite to identify your trademarks so others do not inadvertendly use them) is an excellent way to mark PI. Even better is to list specific names that are _not_ trademarks; listing Trademarks as PI does not add much value to the marks or to you.In addition, the following specific materials are also designated as Product Identity: the names "Sample Publishing Inc", "Crazy World Book", and "Crazy Sample Guide";
The OGL _already_ prohibits the use of another's trademark "to indicate compatability or co-adaptability." So, no one could make a book and say "Compatible with Crazy World Book" on the cover (or anywhere inside or connected with the book) even if you don't list the name as a trademark. If someone else wants to make their own Crazy World Book, they'll be seen as outright frauds if they come after (and/or derive from) your work--and they may be liable under trademark law, which, again, the OGL doesn't help much.
It can, of course, be very valubale to mark a unique NPC ("Luke Skywalker" to use an old example) as PI, so that their identifiable name can't be watered down or misconstrued, and their character stays a bit more under your control. But, as I said above, realize that whatever you mark as PI won't be used--at least, not without some clever substitute names. (Which would you rather have--twenty products with "Crazy Blaster" in them and all with your name and book title listed in the back, and possibly a direct pointer to you and your book, or twenty products with "Silly Gun" and no pointer at you or your book.)
Two points.the name, descriptions, and all text of the following Races, Classes, Skills, Feats, Equipment, Weapons, Magic Items and Spells, "Bolon, Runner, Freaker, Crazy Dude, Self-Bomb, Magic Gatekey, and Dirty Spell"; and all text under the 'Description' header of any of the Races, Classes, Skills, Feats, Equipment, Weapons, Magic Items and Spells.
1: It may be impossible to make a component for the d20 system that is not derivitive of the SRD or MSRD. I.e., as a feat follows a certain format and as a certain understood niche, it may not be possible to create a feat that is not OGC. (Again, I'm not a lawyer. But, still, it doesn't look very professional, and will be construed as misuse of the OGL.)
2: Keeping descriptions out of OGC is a great way to keep raw value in your product. (You want those twenty products with Crazy Blaster all to point gamers back to you, so they can learn more about Crazy Blasters and other things from Crazy World.) However, this is a very small value, and it may be better to put this exclusion in the OGC declaration.
Hot dog, first time and it's perfect! Woot!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, Bruce R. Cordell, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.
Modern System Reference Document, Copyright 2002, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Bill Slavicsek, Jeff Grubb, Rich Redman, Charles Ryan, based on material by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Richard Baker, Peter Adkison, Bruce R. Cordell, John Tynes, Andy Collins, and JD Wiker.
Sample Product Name, Copyright 2003, Roger N Bert II; Authors Roger Bert, Roger Bert II, and Roger Bert III.
Now, all that said, I'd like to offer an example designations for you to consider. I'll use the same fake names as you.
Sample Product Name, Copyright 2003, Roger N. Bert II.
Designation of Open Gaming Content: All text within stat blocks, as defined on page 1, and all text in Chapter 7 "The Silly Mechanic" are hereby designated Open Gaming Content.
Designation of Product Identity: the trademarks "Sample Publishing Inc", "Crazy World Book", "Crazy Sample Guide", and the names of the classes, feats, and spells Bolon, Runner, Freaker, Crazy Dude, Self-Bomb, Magic Gatekey, and Dirty Spell are hereby designated as Product Identity, and therefore exluded from the Designation of Open Gaming Content, above. To use any of these names or trademarks, please contact Roger N. Bert II.
DM
