At 21:54 +0100 2/25/04, Peter Brink wrote:
Lee, I'm relying on the definition. The definition includes "use". 1.g reads:
"(g) "Use", "Used" or "Using" means to use, Distribute, copy, edit, format,
modify, translate and otherwise create Derivative Material of Open Game
Content." It's circular!
What possible meaning could use have in 1.g, other than... "use". :)
That's why I wondered if it wasn't a typo.
At 16:45 -0500 2/25/04, jdomsalla wrote:
It's my understanding (and this is a draftsman trying to make sense of legalese, so if wrong, I'd welcome learning such is the case) that when you find capital-U Use, this is the definition as given in 1g, while little-u use would be the dictionary definition, the same manner the capital-D Distributing is defined in 1c.
Therefore, you could read 1g to mean: "Capital-U Use includes the dictionary definition of use and also includes copying, Distributing, editing, formatting, modifying, translating, or otherwise creating something else with it."
So are the lawyers here finally rubbing off on me, or did I farge that all up?
At 15:56 -0600 2/25/04, Gillispie, Bryan W. wrote:
It does seem circular but it's not really, at least to me it's not...any of you law types correct me if I am wrong though! :) This is how it unfolds in my mind: the words Use, Used and Using are license terms and are independent of the same words in the dictionary and have no meaning outside of the license. The license has to give those words meaning and they are being given a definition in section 1g.
You're both missing his point, partly because Peter accidentally used "circular" in his later post. Going back to his original post, you'll see that the question is, is use, in the layperson's sense, governed by the WotC OGL. The "use" in the definition of "Use, Used, or Using" is, precisely as you say, not the formal license term, but rather the common term (or possibly the general legal term). If this is correct, then the license includes "use" (layperson's term) in "Use", which would mean that when you take a WotC OGL-governed bit and put it in your game (i.e., use it), you are "Using" it, and thus subject to the terms of the license. Now, based on everything that has been said by Ryan and others, this is certainly not the intended meaning. But i concur that it at least looks like the license could be construed to apply to those who merely use governed works for their home game, with no republishing, rewriting, or redistribution involved. It's not circular (that'd only occur if the definition of "Use" included "Use", rather than "use"), but it is overly-broad.
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