Hey Brad-
If you want to refer to a Necromancer Games product just email me.
Basically, as long as the requesting producer is putting out professional content I
will probably give anyone who asks me permission. Particularly for interior content.
Clark
>>> Brad Thompson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 08/01 10:28 PM >>>
> John W. Mangrum
>
> Yes, I understood that. But that wasn't the point I was addressing. Let
> me put it another way: Whether or not the OGL license includes the
> stipulation that you must obtain permission from the legal holders to
> use any trademarks in your OGL product (be that in the open or closed
> portion), the fact remains that if you use someone else's trademark
> without permission you are at risk. It's not as if we'd all be able to
> use trademarks willy-nilly if this clause didn't exist.
I see, and you are correct to a point, but when a trademark is used without
permission, the owner won't always have reason to complain. If they do, it
will nearly always be with letters first, and court later, because that is
the cheapest way to defend their mark.
Shouldn't we limit the OGL so that the least legal legwork possible needs to
be done beforehand? As it stands, the author must initiate a request and
wait for a response. If we simply followed trademark law, the owner of the
mark would need to initiate a response only if they didn't like the usage.
If there is no offense, there is no legal response, and the total amount of
work done by both parties is nil.
If we leave it as it is, BOTH parties will need to employ their legal
representatives in order to grant permission. This places an active burden
on the owner of the mark to loosen their control, something they are loathe
to do because of the potential for unintended side effects. They must make
a decision now that will stand for a great length of time. They are much
more comfortable sitting back placing that decision point as far in the
future as possible, since that is the cheapest and most flexible for them.
-Brad
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For more information, please link to www.opengamingfoundation.org
