>>I think Ryan raised some interesting points, but his conclusion that you can just "source in" stuff from the public domain seems to blow out of the water all poses, themes, concepts, and other things that can't be copyrighted but which are on the PI list altogether.
OGL & PI are completely separate animals from copyright. This is a contract in which you agree to place a portion of your creation in the public domain. Copyright and PI/OGL are apples & oranges. Poses, concepts, themes, etc. - these can be PI'd in order to create protection for aspects of a product that, indeed, can't be copyrighted. I do my artwork in Poser. If I create a rendering in Poser that effectively duplicated the cover of UA and use it on my book "Topless Drow Gangbanger Babes", under copyright law WoTC has to pound sand, because my cover is an original creation in a totally different medium, which happens to express a theme in common with the UA cover. Under PI, I'm screwed. We'll ignore the trade dress issue entirely. By using the same pose, the same theme, and the same concepts (ie, the clothing as a means of expressing the concept of the 'gangbanger' lifestyle), I have trespassed into territory they clearly own, and either they laugh it off or I destroy my print run. Ryan's position that I can bring in portions of PI from public domain does not contradict this - I can use three girls, I can use three drow girls, and I can use three drow girls in gang wear posing like the original Charlie's Angels. I can use public domain sources to bring in everything in the original picture. But I cannot DUPLICATE the picture, as a complete work. Three topless drow girls in lederhosen waving lightsabers, in the same poses at the WoTC cover? Same pose, different theme, different concept. Different PI. And I'll sue anyone that infringes MY picture, too! ;-) Bryan _______________________________________________ Ogf-l mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.opengamingfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/ogf-l
