<<Technically there is no requirement that you clearly mark your PI.
>>
One part of the OGL says: "... and any other trademark or registered trademark clearly identified as Product identity by the owner of the Product Identity..."
So in certain instances, to gain protection, there is a requirement that PI be "clearly identified".
<<There is a reasonable expectation that anything that is "clear" is also
simple or concise.
>>
I disagree. I think that something can be very clear, but be somewhat specific in it's provisions, and therefore lengthy. I could have a designation that was wholly unambiguous but a bit lengthy. I think it would be hard to argue that such a description could not be clear simply because it was long.
Perhaps I'm biased as an academic, but I've read some exceedingly long treatises that are very clear and have exact indications about what kinds of information they do and do not cover and why. I therefore don't assume that "clear" = "concise".
I've already seen 3-4 OGC declarations this week when I was browsing that were less than 6 sentences long and were clear as mud.
<<This does not work unless the other words in the paragraph are allowed to
be PI. Only proper nouns, themes and plots are allowed to be PI. You cannot
declare the How to Use This Book section of your book as PI unless you are
claiming that such a section is a plot or theme.
>>
PI designations for "language" and "concepts" seem pretty broad. Even bigger (and "bigger" is, I realize, a relative term in the OGL community) seem to be declaring as PI, things that definitely aren't plots or themes; or in other cases, they are merely NOT declaring them as OGC and are excluding them from their OGC declaration.
The two methods, of course, have distinct effects under the OGL, but it seems that some vendors are interpreting their ability to close off content, via one method or another, fairly broadly. Of course there are a number of companies who aren't very good about handling the OGL, so perhaps I might concur with you, in part, at least, that just because I can identify other lemmings doesn't mean I should join the parade.
But I still don't read the OGC is allowing you to exclude only fictional plots, themes, and proper nouns as PI. The list seems a bit broader to me than that.
Lee
