> Faustus von Goethe
>
> Oh please. I'm not advocating this. I'm pointing out that it
> happens.
"When there is no enforcement, there really are no limitations" was an
unfortunate choice of words then.
Whether you like the OGL or not, the online policy is bad news for everyone.
Creating rules you don't want to enforce is always a bad idea.
Sure, it's easy to use. So long as everybody plays nice it will probably be
fine. However, you have already pointed out that not everybody plays nice,
and some people (perhaps not you) equate 'no enforcement' with 'no limits'.
This leaves WotC in the position of either alienating their fans and wasting
money on legal fees or risking losing financial losses to IP theft.
Selective enforcement is unethical, and acting across the board is bad for
business. So what is the solution? Make rules you are willing to enforce
and drop the ones you aren't. The OGL and the d20 SRD is one way to do
that. There are others, but the OGL/d20 is the one WotC is examining right
now.
Personally, I don't think the online policy is going away, but I think it
will change. I think the smart thing for WotC to do would be to create an
'online use license' that is compatible with OGL material but not
specifically requiring the material to be OGL. It should specifically state
which marks they can use (like the existing 'net approved' marks) and how
they can use them. It should restrict such use to non-profit, net
distributed material. All such material should be marked as "Unofficial"
and disavows any connection to WotC, as well as stating that the author
assumes all responsibility for the content of the work. Ideally it would
also define the ownership of such works, jointly owned in the best case, but
more likely owned by WotC. In such a case, a clause stating that WotC
cannot use the material without the written permission of the author would
be an appropriate act of good faith.
I realize that some of the D&D source material is public domain. I also
know that 'rules' do not enjoy copyright protection. I think that it IS
possible to create a work which is substantially compatible with D&D that
isn't derivative. None of that really matters, though, because it is
outside of the scope of the online use policy and probably the OGL as well.
People who want to do those types of things should not try to hide under the
online policy umbrella - they'll most likely wind up all wet in the end.
Some fans will mourn the apparent loss of material they never actually were
granted any legal right to use in the first place. Some fans will realize
the value of the new rights they can acquire through the OGL or my
hypothetical online license. A few will ignore the new rules just like they
ignored the old ones, but at least WotC would be in a better political
position if they chose to stop them.
-Brad
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