This last week I've seen videos, tweets, and articles all repeating an unsourced rumour that the OGL (Open Gaming License) will be going away with the advent of OneD&D, and that third party publishers would have no way of legally creating compatible material. I wanted to write an article...
Branding! Using the OGL you can’t use the term “Dungeons & Dragons” (you never could).
Well…you could say ‘this is compatible with Dungeons & Dragons’ if you do not accept the OGL.
The OGL is not relevant to copyright law
Right - in fact I’m not sure what good it is at all. If you agree to it, you agree to not use:
product and product line names, logos and identifying marks including trade dress; artifacts; creatures characters; stories, storylines, plots, thematic elements, dialogue, incidents, language, artwork, symbols, designs, depictions, likenesses, formats, poses, concepts, themes and graphic, photographic and other visual or audio representations; names and descriptions of characters, spells, enchantments, personalities, teams, personas, likenesses and special abilities; places, locations, environments, creatures, equipment, magical or supernatural abilities or effects, logos, symbols, or graphic designs;
…what a mouthful! And all quite subjective.
I’ve gone with GPL over OGL, as the OGL isn’t open. Full post here:
Well…you could say ‘this is compatible with Dungeons & Dragons’ if you do not accept the OGL.
Right - in fact I’m not sure what good it is at all. If you agree to it, you agree to not use:
…what a mouthful! And all quite subjective.
I’ve gone with GPL over OGL, as the OGL isn’t open. Full post here:
gemini://ttrpgs.com/gen/ogl.gmi