> And there's nothing at law  that says the drafter of a license
> can ignore it's provisions.

In that case, even Wotc wouldn't be able to publish the PHB as they'd be
restricted to the material in the SRD and that has since been made OGC by
third parties.

There are obviously cases where WotC is not subject to the OGL. It's
possible that, because Dragon is publishing OGL material from other
publishers (a Freeport article comes to mind) for which the author was
likely paid rather than just using a third party's OGC and subsuming it
into their own work without compensation the work is considered a WotC
publication with permission to use a third-party PI instead of WotC using
someone else's OGC. I'd have to see a copy of Dragon to see exactly how
such articles are presented, but it's been a long time since I found the
mag worth picking up. I'd also have to pick up a copy containing OGC to be
sure that Dragaon hasn't simply put in somewhere something to the effect
of "This product operates under the OGL. Text X from Article Y is
considered OGC. The rest of the magazine is not."

> The WotC FAQ makes the odd assumption, de facto, that if I have 3
> products  and I bundle them together in shrink wrap (let's say I am
> giving a bundled  discount) that suddenly the shrinkwrap makes them one
> work and then the OGL extends  to all of them if it extends to one of
> them.  That's preposterous.

I agree, that is preposterous. This is, however, many steps removed from
something like Dragon magazine where the items are bound together with the
same staples and cannot be removed from the rest of the bundle in any way
for purchasing. It's also much different than a boxed set.

> Now, a boxed set that is designed from start to finish as a single
> commercial  unit may count as a work, but works may contain other works,
> and the OGL may  be applied to any sub-work in the box instead of
> applying it to the containing  work.  Doing so would not mean that the
> containing work was OGL covered  (beyond the "in conjunction
> with"clause).
>
>
>> Q: I want to make a product that claims compatibility with someone
>> else's Trademark, and uses Open Game Content. I'm going to put the
>> Open Game Content in a separate booklet in a box, and only use the
>> Trademark on the packaging on the box. Can I get away with this?
>>
>> A: No. The terms of the Open Game License extend to the whole work. If
>>  you have questions about the technical legal definition of a "work",
>> consult your legal counsel.

Again, unless you're able to break the box down and sell it's pieces
individually as a matter of course, I don't see why the whole thing
wouldn't be considered covered by the OGL as it catalogues, sells and was
developed as a signle product.


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