> John Kim
> Could you be more clear about this? For example, a D&D
> compatible module might refer to an "elf" or a "troll" -- but this
> isn't a copyright infringement since you can't copyright a name.
It *might* not be infringement taken piecemeal, but it *probably* is when
taken as a whole. That was the whole point of the OGL, not to answer the
question of whether this kind of usage is infringement, but rather to say
that whether it is or not you are guaranteed the right to use it if it is
OGL.
If you choose to ignore this 'safe harbor' and make your '6th level elf
ranger with Dodge, Expertise, Darkvision and a Brown Bear animal companion'
PI, that is your business. But you shouldn't kid yourself into thinking
that you are within the safe harbor if you do so.
However, even that doesn't need the SRD per se
> since the d20 trademark guide itself gives the stats and their
> meanings. Since the d20 guide requires users to use the stats as
> defined in the guide, stat blocks can't be a violation even if there
> were no SRD.
The license requires that if you to use those terms you must use the ones
specifically defined in the d20 STLG. That constitutes a specific
expression of a game rule that is *probably* subject to copyright law.
Wizards owns the copyright on the d20 STLG and did not explicitly grant
permission for anyone to create derivative works of the d20 STLG. This
means you must get permission from Wizards under some other license to use
those particular words. That separate license is the OGL, and the work that
contains those specific terms is the SRD. Therefore, in order to use the
d20 system logo and trademark you have to be deriving from the SRD.
> In any case, let me clarify my question: have any of the
> published d20 products reproduced anything more than bare names and
> the format of stat blocks (i.e. a new monsters using d20 stats, or a
> new class using d20 stats) ?
As I said, all modules that contain standard monsters or NPCs that use
standard races & classes *as those terms are defined in the SRD* are using
the SRD. I've got one of AEG's "Adventure Boosters" in my hands right now,
and it has a whole bunch of SRD stuff.
-Brad
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