>From: "Nicholas H.M. Caldwell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Persuading a Rolemaster fan to agree to rewrite some of his ideas in D&D
>terms,
Can't be much harder than convincing a 1st edition guru to switch to 3rd...
or a GURPS fan.
>pruning out any items which are too similar to existing items in
>the DMG,
If you can prove he wrote them without seeing the DMG, he's got a fine
copyright. Clean-room tests work on copyright, just not on trademarks.
>ensuring that all Rolemaster terms have been replaced by D&D 3E
>equivalents to protect ICE's intellectual property and prevent The Guild
>Companion from violating the OGL, plus normal editing, layout, etc., is a
>non-trivial undertaking.
I don't doubt that.
>Unless it has a chance of providing reasonable
>financial return *to the author* and The Guild Companion, it's not worth
>the effort.
Don't forget that there are several ways of getting financial returns off of
an act.
>My current analysis is that electronic-only publishers must either produce
>virtually "closed" products or simply avoid certain types of products
>altogether. Your reading is indeed correct.
That sounds about right. Electronic publishers have to produce closed
content to ensure that they can sell it. Print publishers can add-in value
of layout and having an acutal printed copy.
Considering that the mainstream publishing world is still iffy on the
concept, I can only wish you luck in electronic publishing... and suggest
that, if you feel compelled to contribute to the open community, you can
still do that, as well.
DM
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