If money wasn't involved we could all live in a happy Free Sharing world
but it is so we don't. When a person devoted time and resources to a
project in the hopes of making a living (eating, shelter, etc.) and someone
else takes what they made and a) gives it away for free or b) makes money
off it instead this becomes a VERY big problem. People have been killed
for less.
Perfect gaming example (this is from direct source). FASA corp. took their
Battletech concept (cartoon idea with associated toys) to well known toy
manufacturer Playmates. They tried to sell the idea but Playmates said
"We'll think about it. Leave the models with us." FASA never heard
back. Short time later Exo-Squad is released with the EXACT SAME MODELS in
many cases. The entire thing ends up in court, FASA gets the rights to
their model designs but no money. FASA is out development costs, the loss
from Exo-Squad as competiton plus legal fees. They sort of won but frankly
Playmates had more money and FASA took what they could get which was very
little.
This happens all the time. Welcome to Earth...you can't trust people when
it comes to money. If you feel comfortable putting years of work and
investment on the table with nothing more than a simplified everyman
contract then good luck. If you just want to have fun though and don't
care if you see your ideas in print under someone elses name then you're
right. All the legal mumbo jumbo is a waste of time.
At 09:16 AM 3/30/2001 -0500, you wrote:
> > And when my 'understanding' differs from yours, what do we do? Go to
> > court, where, since we aren't using tersm with legally explicit meaning,
> > we argue endlessly.
>
>Okay, is it just me, or does it seem that litigation is the second most
>commonly used term on this list? OGL, then litigation, then d20, then the
>rest of the Queen's English. (My apologies to the Brits on the list for
>calling what I'm writing the Queen's English.) Has the RPG industry become
>so completely and totally saturated by the will to sue the crap out of
>anyone that tries to make a buck? We're all here quaking in our boots
>waiting for the axe to fall, or are lording over the other companies of the
>world, waiting to swing the axe? Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Open
>Sourcing supposed to be about eliminating the need for endless legal
>wrangling? Information Is Free (or is that Fee?) and all that jazz? And if
>that isn't what the OGL is about, WotC's intentions aside, then I guess I
>may as well sign off this list, because I want no part of it.
>
> > There's a reason technical language evolved -- it's unambiguous, at
> > least as far as the courts are concerned (well, up to a point).
>
>Yes, so that a select crowd of individuals, i.e. lawyers, could make their
>living interpreting the law for the likes of you and me. Thank you, oh
>great Lawyers of the World, for charging me the equivalent of 1/4 of a press
>run to de-Babelize the complex intricacies of a 1-page document. What crap.
>I can write a technical manual (and do!) for software that analyzes the IR
>spectra of chemical samples so that a kid with a high-school diploma can run
>the machine and the software with maybe 8 hours of training. But when it
>comes to the OGL, let's make sure it's as obscure as possible, because hey!
>I might be able to one day use the OGL to knock the crap out of some
>would-be competitors who try and eke a living out the RPG market using my
>system. Hooray!
>
>Horsehockey, son. Just like a tech manual for a piece of hardware or
>software - a tech manual for the OGL can be written.
>
> > Here's a "Plain English" license:
> >
>[snip]
>
>And thank you for mocking and marginalizing my concerns.
>
>Bravo.
>
>Kuma
>
>-------------
>For more information, please link to www.opengamingfoundation.org
-------------
For more information, please link to www.opengamingfoundation.org
