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D&D was built on ripping things off (Afterthoughts on the OGL/CC issue)
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<blockquote data-quote="Alzrius" data-source="post: 8928153" data-attributes="member: 8461"><p>The issue here, as I see it, is that there are two different concepts at work:</p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Based on the majority of attorney opinions I've seen (here and elsewhere), WotC <em>probably</em> didn't have the legal ability to revoke/de-authorize the OGL v1.0a; this is even more true for any attempt by them to withdraw or otherwise remove/prevent people from using the 5.1 SRD via Creative Commons now that they've released it there.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">It doesn't matter whether or not WotC's legal strategy is sound; just fighting the court case would likely cause whomever they sued to go bankrupt/into debt defending themselves.</li> </ol><p>The issue is that point number 2 is, as its first clause makes clear, orthogonal to point number 1. If WotC declares that they're revoking, de-authorizing, or otherwise saying "we're taking away this stuff that we previously said you could use," then regardless of whether or not they're legally able to do that, the widespread reaction is one of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear,_uncertainty,_and_doubt" target="_blank">fear, uncertainty, and doubt</a> on the part of other publishers, which isn't something they find tenable. Again, take note of point number 1; it's no less true now than it was two weeks ago, and yet more than a few publishers are moving away from the OGL.</p><p></p><p>That's personally something I find disheartening, because it suggests that even a genuine legal "safe harbor" isn't good enough to foster the community-wide sharing and remixing of content that we had for so long. We also need the <em>assurance</em> of a safe harbor, and there's no legal guarantees that can sustain that. </p><p></p><p>I know a lot of people think that Creative Commons is more secure, because WotC doesn't own it and can't withdraw, revoke, de-authorize, or otherwise kill the license itself nor withdraw the 5.1 SRD. But so what? In the United States, anyone can sue anyone else at any time for anything, and even a casual search shows that there have been <em>many</em> civil cases filed around the use of Creative Commons. People worried about WotC <em>filing </em>suit against them (as opposed to <em>winning</em> such a suit) are no safer using CC-BY-4.0 than they were using the OGL v1.0a.</p><p></p><p>The debate about the merits of using CC vs. using the OGL are near-totally about the idea/appearance of safety, rather than actual safety.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Alzrius, post: 8928153, member: 8461"] The issue here, as I see it, is that there are two different concepts at work: [LIST=1] [*]Based on the majority of attorney opinions I've seen (here and elsewhere), WotC [i]probably[/i] didn't have the legal ability to revoke/de-authorize the OGL v1.0a; this is even more true for any attempt by them to withdraw or otherwise remove/prevent people from using the 5.1 SRD via Creative Commons now that they've released it there. [*]It doesn't matter whether or not WotC's legal strategy is sound; just fighting the court case would likely cause whomever they sued to go bankrupt/into debt defending themselves. [/LIST] The issue is that point number 2 is, as its first clause makes clear, orthogonal to point number 1. If WotC declares that they're revoking, de-authorizing, or otherwise saying "we're taking away this stuff that we previously said you could use," then regardless of whether or not they're legally able to do that, the widespread reaction is one of [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear,_uncertainty,_and_doubt]fear, uncertainty, and doubt[/url] on the part of other publishers, which isn't something they find tenable. Again, take note of point number 1; it's no less true now than it was two weeks ago, and yet more than a few publishers are moving away from the OGL. That's personally something I find disheartening, because it suggests that even a genuine legal "safe harbor" isn't good enough to foster the community-wide sharing and remixing of content that we had for so long. We also need the [i]assurance[/i] of a safe harbor, and there's no legal guarantees that can sustain that. I know a lot of people think that Creative Commons is more secure, because WotC doesn't own it and can't withdraw, revoke, de-authorize, or otherwise kill the license itself nor withdraw the 5.1 SRD. But so what? In the United States, anyone can sue anyone else at any time for anything, and even a casual search shows that there have been [i]many[/i] civil cases filed around the use of Creative Commons. People worried about WotC [I]filing [/I]suit against them (as opposed to [I]winning[/I] such a suit) are no safer using CC-BY-4.0 than they were using the OGL v1.0a. The debate about the merits of using CC vs. using the OGL are near-totally about the idea/appearance of safety, rather than actual safety. [/QUOTE]
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