[od-discuss] Open Game License 1.0a for approval

Tue Oct 22 08:59:52 UTC 2013

On 10/21/2013 12:09 AM, Rob Myers wrote:
> +1
>
> It may be worth putting a note about the non-copyrightability of game
> rules and/or the overreaching nature of the definition of Open Game
> Content in the comments.
-1 on considering the Open Game License as an open license.

Or, at least, I'm very skeptical. In fact, the issue concerning the 
non-copyrightability of game rules "as such" (in the sense that manuals 
are of course copyrightable as the description of a specific rule at a 
much more "micro" level, as soon as ideas and expressions are not 
merged) is not just incidental here. In my opinion, the OGL has been 
designed in oder to instill in the mind of a lot of amateur role playing 
game authors that "the game mechanic [including] the methods, 
procedures, processes and routines" govering a role playing game (let's 
say, D&D, to be clear) can copyrighted.

Moreover, the clause about the use of Product Identity aims at something 
similar concerning potentially public domains things, such as artifacts, 
creatures, spells, plots.
But, of course, we can deal with this using the proviso that the OGL is 
only Open when no Product Identity is identified.

Overall, I would not like to endorse this license, even if - technically 
speaking - some readings of the license (i.e., a reading adding "if 
copyrightable" about 10 times...) could lead to an interpretation which 
is in line with the open definition.

To conclude, I do not have strong legal objections to the addition of 
the license the the list of "Conformant but Little Used, Discontinued or 
Deprecated Licenses", but I just wanted to comment on the fact that some 
additional discussion may be appropriate and/or that the proviso about 
Product Identity should be very clear and prominent.

Best,

Federico

-- 

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Federico MORANDO
Director of Research and Policy &
Research Fellow

NEXA Center for Internet & Society
Politecnico di Torino - DAUIN
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tel.: +39 011 090 5954
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