On Sun, 17 Sep 2000, Beren wrote:
>
> Yeah, I understand that. I suppose I'm looking for something along
> the lines of "Section 1 means this, Section 2 means you have to do
> this:, that kind of thing.
>
> The reason that I really want to be able to understand this is
> because I am planning to self publish some product in the next year
> or so and I'm trying to decide whether to go OGL or d20 System. I
> feel that because I don't understand the intent of each of the
> sections of the OGL, I can't make an educated decision.
I don't mean this in any snotty way: Explaining legalese is what lawyers
are for. Get a lawyer. Have your lawyer explain it to you. Have your
lawyer review your goals and make sure your interests are protected.
People feel that because they understand most of the words in a contract,
they must therefore understand what it says. That's a bad assumption.
The law is built on the written word and case law. The words they choose
are often terms of art, with a meaning specific to law.
Contracts are often left "fuzzy" in places because the law is unclear in
places, and sometimes it's better to fight those things out in court, if
it ever gets to that point. Often a lawyer's goal is not to write a
perfectly clear agreement, but to protect one side's interest. I'm
confident that that is the primary goal of WotC's lawyers.
And, no, I'm not one of the conspiracy theorists. I think Ryan really
wants to promote Open Gaming, but he has a job to do, too. And I believe
his mission was something like "figure out what went wrong, and dammit!
don't lose any more money!" (see the interview linked on
rpgplanet.com/dnd3e).
Adam "married to an IP lawyer" Dray
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