So then what does "work" mean? Does "work" and "covered work" = the entire product? Or does "work" simply mean "that text to which the OGL applies"?
Lets us a book that has 4 chapters. The chapters are as follows: Ch 1: Introduction (no OGC) Ch 2: Classes and Skills (uses OGC) Ch 3: Setting Information (no OGC) Ch 4: Monsters and Magic items (uses OGC). Can I say the "work" is just chapters 2 and 4? Or, in your view, does the "work" mean the whole book? The problem isnt just the definition of OGC, its also the definition of "work." Clark --- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > I've been discussing this "off list" with people so > I've decided to post on > list. > > It involves the definition of OGC. > > "OGC... means any work covered by the license,... > but specifically excludes > Product Identity." > > Contractual construction requires that you give > effect to this if possible, > even if it renders something else redundant. A poor > attempt at contractual > construction is one where you have to delete a > portion of the contract for it to > make sense when you read it. > > The literal construction of this statement is that > as soon as you cover a > work with the license, it is all 100% OGC except > those parts that are PI. You > choose to define the "work" within the legal limits > of such definition. You > choose to cover it. But as soon as you have defined > a work, and as soon as you > cover it with the license, 100% of that covered work > is OGC except the parts > that are PI, per the above definition. > > You must then clearly designate what is OGC and what > is PI. OGC declaration > has effect, but it is a redundant effect, since by > declaring PI and covering a > work with the license, everything that is not PI in > the covered work is OGC. > So, nominally if your PI declaration is clear, then > the OGC is the covered > work minus the parts that are PI. > > The above statement explicitly says: > > OGC = COVERED WORK - PI > > OR > > COVERED WORK = OGC + PI > > Almost everything else in the OGC definition is > valid, but redundant, because > of the broad definition of OGC as "the covered work" > minus the PI. This > means that almost everything else in the OGC > definition is a redundant subset of > "any work covered" minus the PI. > > Somebody posted something from Clark saying that > this construction > "conflicts" with other parts of the license. In > fact, this interpretation does not > "conflict" an iota with the rest of the license. If > it did, it would be a poor > attempt at contractual construction by me, because > it would not be giving effect > to all parts of the license. Reading other parts as > redundant is not the > same as reading in a "conflict". > > The post I got that apparently came from Clark > claimed that, by my logic, you > could just rewrite the license to equate "covered > work" with "OGC", which is > not my logic. My logic is that the contract says: > COVERED WORK = OGC + PI, so > that COVERED WORK = OGC only for covered works with > no PI. > > I analyze statutes all the time, and they often have > lots of redundancy built > into them. That does not equate to a "conflict" of > statute or, in the cases > of contracts, "conflicting clauses in the contract". > > Anyone care to give an alternate construction of the > above sentence that does > not read it out of existence? Lots of people seem > to want to do two things: > > a) pretend that the OGC declaration is all > important, and > b) ignore the clause that says explicitly that > "OGC... means any work covered > by this license" except the parts that are PI > > One reason why the OGC + PI declarations are > important, is that they, > together, tell you what the "covered work" is in the > eyes of the OGL end user, and > this is particularly important in compilations (like > magazines, etc.) where the > commercial unit and the "covered work" may not be > 1:1 equivalent of each other > (because you might cover a single article instead of > the whole magazine). > > > Lee > > _______________________________________________ > Ogf-l mailing list > [email protected] > http://mail.opengamingfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/ogf-l > _______________________________________________ Ogf-l mailing list [email protected] http://mail.opengamingfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/ogf-l
