On Tue, 29 Jan 2002, Weldon Dodd wrote: > Now what happens when I use secondary sources and use interesting > historical details from the middle ages on say "firearms" or "ships" > that someone painstakingly compiled from numerous primary sources? Those > little factoids and descriptions of "real life" might be cool (for > gamers) to have in a gaming book. It would also be cool (for publishers) > to have that text as OGC so they can include it their work without > having to worry about re-writing everything or provide citations outside > of section 15. > > But academic tradition says that the next publisher who wants to re-use > that OGC should also cite the secondary sources that the text was drawn > from. They really shouldn't just re-use the OGC without the citations. > Therefore, I haven't been able to provide anything for re-use because I > most likely lack the "authority to contribute" even though there isn't a > clear copyright violation. > > So what do you think? Can I use secondary sources for historical > information and release my original (yet derivative) text as OGC if it > is based on someone else's research? I would prefer to use endnotes in > my book, but can I require that of the other publishers that re-use the > content?
I think you've present a very interesting and tricky question. I'm not even going to attempt to provide anything I would consider as an solid answer. But I will make a few comments. :) The first thing is to realize that rpg products are not really academic works, so it might be a stretch even comparing them in terms of what you are permitted to do regarding the fair use of someone else's copyright material. In academic work, copyright law permits some limited use of others copyrighted material. But fair use is based primarily upon the reason for which copyrighed material is being used, not on the fact that the amount used is small. Are rpg products acadmic works or works of fiction? It matters for determine what is permitted under fair use doctrine. Obviously anything your are making OGC cannot be taken directly from such outside sources, even if put inside quotes and properly cited. You don't have the right to contribute that material as OGC even though in other contexts you do have the right under the fair use doctrine to use the copyrighted material. And if you're talking about using historical/factual information, when you write your own material based on the research you've done, I don't think that would generally be considered as being derivative. The OGL prohibits users from indicating compatibility or co-adaptability with any PI or Trademarks. It also says you can't use the names of any Contributors to market your product. So if these secondary sources you are talking about are outside the realm of RPGs, I don't think there's any problem with citing them. But if you are refering to other RPG products, citing them could be construed as indicating compatibility. As for requiring people who use your OGC (which includes citations) to maintain those citations, there's no way you can do that. The license specifically prevents you from imposing any additional terms on the OGC. alec _______________________________________________ Ogf-l mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.opengamingfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/ogf-l
