<<Have we ever actually definitively answered the question of what
constitutes "a work" for purposes of the WotC OGL? >>
I contend that we can infer it from the license itself woodelf. If you look at the definition of "derivative material" it "reads in" the definitions of "derivative works" and "translations" under "copyright law". To do that, since they are defined in terms of "works" under copyright law, it sort of ropes in the definition of "work" from "copyright law" as well, except where the license specifies otherwise (and it doesn't).
Were it not for this specific roping in of terms of art from copyright law which rely on copyright law definitions of "work" it might be a big more gray. But I'm happy with the notion that "work" means what it does under copyright law given the roping in of the other stuff.
<<While it of course
>
makes more sense for it to be defined as you say, so that aggregate
works like magazines don't have to abide by the license restrictions
/in toto/, is there any evidence of this in the license itself? Or
any evidence against it?>
Well, that's why I'm going out on a limb and risking looking like a moron if I'm wrong about all this. I have no fear about being wrong as long as the tough questions get asked and answered thoughtfully. I figure somebody has to take the hit for the team and it might as well be me.
However, I'm not really persuaded by general practice in the industry. But if you are, then I _think_ (I don't have a recent one handy) that Dragon Magazine carries things ads for d20 products (with micropica versions of the OGL in the footer of the license), but there's no suggestion that the entire magazine is being published under the OGL is there?
Again, since I think WotC has made some questionable interpretations of the license, I'm not sold on their perspective, but that doesn't mean we can't inform ourselves about what their perspective is.
I did point out re: the old d20 STL some of the problems it had associated with compilations. I think (I can check my email archives) the WotC rep agreed that to refer to other WotC products in reviews (under the old STL) that _technically_ you couldn't apply the OGL and the d20 license to the entire magazine unless you wanted to get WotC permission for each usage. You had to apply them to parts of the magazine and leave other parts in a non-covered status. If you want me to search my email for this I'll try. Depends on my find function in AOL. My vision is bad enough that I don't know if I'll be able to find the email if I have to hunt for it manually.
Lee
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