>From: John Kim <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
> Frankly, I disagree that there is any such thing as a safe
>harbor.
A "safe Harbor" sets out rules and acceptable methods for "breaking the
rules" and provides *some* assurances for protection for those who choose to
use of it. In THAT sense, the OGL clearly provides a safe harbor for the
large gaming companies and for those who contribute Open Content. Whether
the Safe Harbor is there in the OGL for those who USE OGL material I think
remains to be seen. It DOES provide pitfalls. The IP attorney's I have
spoken to feel that that part is certainly up to interpretation.
One thing is certain, if you (as a "USER OF OGC") abuse the trademarks rule,
you will lose ANY benefits of protection the license might have provided.
Sometimes the perception of a thing is much more important than the reality,
however. Regardless of how the COURTS would interpret it, the more
developers that are USING content that has been released under the OGL, the
more it will COST the contributors (in terms of goodwill) to try to abuse
the license for personal gain.
So, USE AWAY!
Faust
For example, Mayfair Games had a contractual agreement with
>TSR for how to use it's trademark which was precisely to clarify the
>"grey area" of trademark use. This didn't stop TSR from suing them.
>Similarly, given all the confusion people have over the OGF+STL,
>I think that if they really wanted to, WotC could in practice find
>grounds to sue.
>
> Nothing will totally protect you from being sued -- the most
>it can do is give you material to win. The implication of William
>Olander's post (as I read it) was the WotC could at this point
>successfully sue the current d20 producers for copyright violations,
>since the SRD is not currently open. I think this would be extremely
>difficult for WotC, even if they wanted to do it (which they probably
>wouldn't since I think it would seriously harm their sales).
>
> The point is I don't believe it requires much faith in the
>good graces of WotC to publish typical current d20 products, which
>are D&D supplements very similar to the pre-OGL products that were
>published as being "For use with any Fantasy RPG system". Publishing
>such things pre-OGL was a bit risky but doable. Publishing them
>post-OGL, pre-SRD (i.e. the current situation) is much safer. It
>should not be viewed as an unsafe risk that relies on faith.
>
>- John
>
>
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