While other specifics are still publicly unknown at this point, it's now been revealed that there will be no equivalent to 3E's D20 System Trademark License for 4E. What this means is that, while third parties will still be able to use the 4E rules (or rather, that portion of the rules that makes it into the new SRD), there will be no legal way to point out its relationship to D&D except by circumlocutions like "compatible with the world's most popular fantasy roleplaying game" or something. Gone are the days of a well-known logo or the phrase "Requires the Use of the Dungeons & Dragons Third Edition Core Books Published by Wizards of the Coast."
This move doesn't surprise me in the least. I think the D20 STL (as opposed to the OGL) proved to be a big headache for WotC, between having to police third parties for violation of its terms (remember Fast Forward Entertainment?) or offending delicate sensibilities with content (remember the Valar Project?), not to mention the tons of sub-par drek churned out at prodigious rates that glutted the market and made D20 a dirty word with distributors and retailers alike. By dropping it, they no longer have to worry about this sort of thing.
My paranoid suspicion is that this is one step toward making D&D's rules closed in the future. Indeed, I remain convinced, despite claims to the contrary by various people, that WotC is no longer committed to Open Gaming as a concept. Rather, they feel they have to make 4E open so as to encourage as many third parties -- especially big fish -- to come along for the ride with 4E. If 4E had been closed, there'd have been an irresistible call to stick with and further develop v.3.5, which would have encouraged "forking" in the market, as fans of this third party and that one stayed with their favorite publishers rather than continued with WotC. By keeping 4E open, WotC avoids this and deprived the 3.5E rules kernel of creative oxygen and effectively kills it off.
It'll be interesting to see how this evolves. Without a D20 STL this time around, only the biggest third party publishers with solid followings will see much benefit from converting to 4E. Middle rung companies will get left in the cold, with no easy way to identify their compatibility with the new edition. This news makes the question of moving to 4E or not a slightly different equation than before.
Link?
http://www.enworld.org/showpost.php?p=3876623&postcount=21
Yeah, as you say, they'll have to say "Compatible with the World's Most Popular Role-Playing Game" instead of "Requires the Dungeons and Dragons Player's Handbook".
At least the OGL will always be there.
Any publishers have any thoughts on this? I'm guessing not as of yet, but couldn't hurt to ask.
Honestly, I don't think anyone needed to know explicitly you needed a Player's Handbook to use almost all of the d20 products. The only confusion might have arisen from whether it used the 3.0 version or 3.5 version, and a logo doesn't do much to solve that.
Yeah, as you say, they'll have to say "Compatible with the World's Most Popular Role-Playing Game" instead of "Requires the Dungeons and Dragons Player's Handbook".
Actually, according Scott Rouse, they're "... looking to incorporate some sort of compatibility language within the new version of the OGL. Something like 'Compatible with the 4th Edition of the Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying game...'".
Which sounds a lot more like they're just trying to back off the oversight requirements of the D20 license.