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View Full Version : Homebrew Flavor and the Law



Faithdreamer
2007-05-08, 05:45 AM
d20 and D&D 3.5 systems are under the OGL, that means anyone can make them. I'm sure Wizards has a clause or secret hat trick to do as they please with whatever anyone makes?

If you make a setting using d20 and D&D, does WotC automatically own the rights to your flavor material?

Darth Mario
2007-05-08, 06:54 AM
By law, the OGL is printed in it's entirety in 3rd party manuals and sourcebooks. Though I own none and therefore can't go look it up, if there is an evil clause of ownership, it would be there.

DM

Maldraugedhen
2007-05-08, 07:16 AM
It's helpful, for me, anyway, to be completely unconcerned with ownership of the homebrew I've done if I'm just doing it to have fun with the stuff.

Attilargh
2007-05-08, 07:38 AM
You can find the OGL and a FAQ here (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=d20/oglfaq/20040123f). I'm relatively certain they will answer your question.

mikeejimbo
2007-05-08, 04:31 PM
Q: Does Wizards of the Coast's copyright to the License mean that anything I publish using the License is owned by Wizards of the Coast?

A: No. The copyright on the License pertains to the terms of the License itself, not to materials distributed using the License.

That seems to say "no," but I'm not entirely certain.

Ah, but because it's OGC (Open Gaming Content) they can take it, it seems. Reading down more...


Q: Why can't any terms be added or subtracted from the License?

A: This clause ensures that each person that you distribute Open Game Content to will get exactly the same rights that you received when you got the Open Game Content yourself. Note that this clause means you can't restrict others from adapting your Open Game Content, or limit who can distribute Open Game Content, or add any other restrictive term. Likewise, you can't alter the terms of the license to remove sections that you might find objectionable, like the Product Identity definition.

Q: Does this mean that someone could take Open Game Content I wrote and distributed for free, and then put it in a product and sell that product to someone else?

A: Yes.

Q: To be clear: Does this mean that Wizards of the Coast could take Open Game Content I wrote and distributed for free, put it into a Dungeons & Dragons product and make money off it?

A: Yes.

Q: And they wouldn't have to ask my permission or pay me a royalty?

A: No, they would not.

Umarth
2007-05-10, 08:03 AM
Keep in mind though that you can designate, to some degree, what is and isn't OGL stuff in your material.

Thats the reason none of the fluff or leveling up information is in the SRD.

So people can normally reuse your rules but not your fluff.

Roderick_BR
2007-05-10, 12:46 PM
According to that, anyone can use your new rules. Not much unlike what we do here in the homebrew.

bosssmiley
2007-05-10, 01:16 PM
d20 and D&D 3.5 systems are under the OGL, that means anyone can make them. I'm sure Wizards has a clause or secret hat trick to do as they please with whatever anyone makes?

If you make a setting using d20 and D&D, does WotC automatically own the rights to your flavor material?

The relevant phrase here is "product identity". You can designate certain elements of your homebrew as such and they remain particularly yours under copyright law. This is as opposed to any elements designated "open content" (like, for example, the SRD); under the terms of the OGL open content is essentially public domain (per the layman's use of the term, not the strict legal one).

Look up a third party OGL book. Many of them used different typefaces, or had appendices, that delineated those elements which they particularly had produced as "product identity". This was the 'value added' of 3rd party materials.

Duke of URL
2007-05-10, 01:33 PM
Keep in mind though that you can designate, to some degree, what is and isn't OGL stuff in your material.


This is a critical point -- anything derived from OGL material must itself by OGL, but anything that is entirely your own creation can be published without being OGL, and therefore you retain all copyrights and ability to license the materials.

If I'm posting here on the boards, assume it's all OGL, but if I write a 300+ page campaign setting, only those things directly taken from or derived from existing OGL material has to be OGL; I would likely choose to put any new classes, feats, etc., under the OGL as well. But the details of the setting, etc., would probably be kept under a different license.