From: "Mathew Gray" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Vortigern is a famous historical name. Talon is the name
> of one of my favorite NPC rangers. 99% sure I played with
> Lauriel in an adventure when I was in High School. Arlen
> is a town from a FOX TV show.
> Can you mark these as PI?
You can mark them so. The license does not attempt to discriminate between
enforcable PI claims and unenforceable PI claims. We'll let the parties at
issue or a court handle that if things get that far.
In my opinion, you won't have much chance of successfully litigating a claim
against someone who uses them unless you can show that you are the primary
source for the material someone else uses. In other words, you'll have to
somehow show that the Vortigern you're disputing is the same Vortigern that
appears in your PI list.
For example, if "your" Vortgern is a hulking seven foot albino with one arm
who fights with a vorpal fork, and a character with that name and
description shows up in some product you produce using the OGL, you're
probably in for some problems. The more distinctive the character is, the
easier time you will have litigating to protect its use.
As publishers, you'll all be better off to only claim PI on distinct
characters that you clearly own and that are not derivative. Common names
from literature or fantasy fiction aren't very protectable; nor are common
nouns used as proper nouns. And the more description you give those
characters, the easier it will be to assert a product identity claim.
"Wolverine" isn't very protectable. "Wolverine, the X-Man with a
regenerating factor, adamantium claws, a crazy hairstyle and a yellow and
blue costume" is very protectable.
Ryan
-------------
For more information, please link to www.opengamingfoundation.org
