<<
I could be dead wrong on this, but I seriously doubt that is going to
happen. There are literally THOUSANDS of fan sites out there that are
packed with stuff that violate the "Proprietary Content" clause of the
OGL and very few of these folks are going to be happy about WotC
suddenly deciding to pull the rug out from under them.
>>
Guess what. They'll have to deal with it. After all, the Online policy
is literally up to the whim of WotC. Next week they could change it to
disallow the use of specific mentions of their trademarks, and everyone
who relied on it would be out in the cold. With the OGL, even if WotC
were to change it, you could still use a previous version of the
license. The online policy is generous in what it allows, and WotC
could've put up something restrictive, but they didn't.
I could see a possibility in the future WotC putting together a "CSTL"
(standing for Campaign Setting Trademark License) which allows the use
of specific trademarks as long as you follow a set of rules. It might
be along the lines of "you may use trademark X if you clearly identify
it as a trademark of WotC, used in a not-for-profit work, and it isn't
for used for marketing purposes, yada yada..."
<<
Where's the benefit if you do not plan to sell? There are plenty of
downsides to using OGL if you are developing "not-for-profit", but I
don't see the benefits. Maybe you could fill us in on on what you see
as the upside.
>>
There are benefits (or atleast not any bad drawbacks), you just need to
know where to look.
<<
1. RISK: If you use the online use policy *nobody* will mistake your
work for open source, and you will not be at any risk of "mislabelling"
somebody elses closed content as open. Should you choose to use the OGL
and mistakenly "open" someone elses copyright work then you would be
legally liable for the resulting damages - and THAT could be some
serious cash, depending on the circumstances.
>>
The OGL is binding. The Online policy is not. WotC could change it,
and all those many people who violate the current policy would have to
change. With the OGL, WotC could release a new version, but if no one
likes it, they won't use it. The risk is going with the online policy
which could be here today, gone tommorrow, and replaced by the OGL.
<<
2. FLEXIBILITY: Want to develop in the Forgotten realms? You *never*
will if you use the OGL.
>>
I would never develop in the forgotten realms ;-)
Actually, if *you* want to develop in the Forgotten realms, send a
resume to WotC ;-)
<<
3. TRADEMARKS: If you ise OGL, you can never say "This module is for D&D
3E", "... Forgotten Realms", "... Ravenloft", "... whatever".
So where are the upsides?
>>
If the online policy gets dropped, wheres the upside to being able to
say those things.
Of course, this is all assuming that the online policy will be staying
around. Myself, I prefer a license that won't be changed unless you
decide to use a different version of the OGL.
--
Korath
http://www.korath.com
"He was already dead, he died a year ago, the moment he touched her.
They're all dead, they just don't know it." --Eric Draven, The Crow
-------------
For more information, please link to www.opengamingfoundation.org
