> Sean Michael Mead
>
> And the protection of that framework has been quite limited ever
> since Feist v. Rural Telephone Co.
This isn't really relevant to the OGL, but you are correct. I rely on three
things to keep my IP valuable: Proprietary Technology, Licensing, and
Copyright, in that order.
My data is constantly being updated, and rapidly loses its value if it is
not maintained on a regular basis. The real value of my business is the
pool of knowledge and proprietary software processing tools that allow the
database to be maintained in a cost-effective manner (It's easy to maintain
if money isn't part of the equation...one of my competitors has spent more
than $2 million dollars trying to duplicate what I can do for about $350,000
per year).
Second, all customers of my data agree to a license which restricts what
they can do with the data. This supercedes the copyright, because they
agree not to perform certain tasks rather that might otherwise be allowed
under copyright law. It is quite like the clauses in d20 regarding
character creation and the effects of experience.
Finally, I rely on copyrights to keep people from blatantly stealing from me
or from those who have agreed to my license. This is the weakest protection
of the three, but a snapshot of a portion of my database is the least
valuable of my company's assets.
-Brad
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