I'm trying to clarify a bit of the OGL, specifically what to include as far as the Section 15 Copyright notice goes as for the inclusion of other folks' Open Content.
The Appropriate d20pfsrd Page suggests that references should be recursive, such that if you, building Product A, reference Product B, you include all the references on Product B's Section 15. Presumably, for fairly inclusive works, or if a company references their own previous works, this could conceivably be a staggeringly long list.
But, not all the products I've seen do this implied degree of recursion. For instance, since the update to the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, the various AP's reference the two Bestiary Books in their stat blocks, but neither Bestiary (and its own long list of borrowings) shows up in that AP book's Section 15; generally the only citations are the Core citation, and the ever-handy Advanced Bestiary and Tome of Horrors when used to customize a stat block or bring in additional monsters.
With WotC long-divorced from the now-eleven-year-old OGL, is there anyone that can solidly clarify the issue?
You own the copyright to your own works. Thus you do not need to add them to the Section 15 of your OGL declaration, except as a requirement for other publishers to do so when they reference your material. Someone else could make a work that included a monster stat block from an AP, and they'd list the AP in their Section 15 instead of the Bestiary.
I'm trying to clarify a bit of the OGL, specifically what to include as far as the Section 15 Copyright notice goes as for the inclusion of other folks' Open Content.
The Appropriate d20pfsrd Page suggests that references should be recursive, such that if you, building Product A, reference Product B, you include all the references on Product B's Section 15. Presumably, for fairly inclusive works, or if a company references their own previous works, this could conceivably be a staggeringly long list.
But, not all the products I've seen do this implied degree of recursion. For instance, since the update to the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, the various AP's reference the two Bestiary Books in their stat blocks, but neither Bestiary (and its own long list of borrowings) shows up in that AP book's Section 15; generally the only citations are the Core citation, and the ever-handy Advanced Bestiary and Tome of Horrors when used to customize a stat block or bring in additional monsters.
With WotC long-divorced from the now-eleven-year-old OGL, is there anyone that can solidly clarify the issue?
Here is what I was told when I asked pretty much the same exact question.
Vic Wertz's explanationSo basically, yes it should be recursive.
You own the copyright to your own works. Thus you do not need to add them to the Section 15 of your OGL declaration, except as a requirement for other publishers to do so when they reference your material. Someone else could make a work that included a monster stat block from an AP, and they'd list the AP in their Section 15 instead of the Bestiary.
The problem is "your own" is not always as clear when using OGL work. You may have a book, but if some of the material in that book is not your own work (had to site a different work in your section 15), then if you use any material from that book, even if it was 100% your own original content, you should probably still site the entire section 15 from that book.
Here is what I was told when I asked pretty much the same exact question.
Vic Wertz's explanationSo basically, yes it should be recursive.
Awesome. Thanks for the thread link, pres man; wasn't having luck finding that with the search functionality.
The problem is "your own" is not always as clear when using OGL work. You may have a book, but if some of the material in that book is not your own work (had to site a different work in your section 15), then if you use any material from that book, even if it was 100% your own original content, you should probably still site the entire section 15 from that book.
That would be best practice, but it isn't strictly necessary; you're not going to sue yourself. You should definitely cite the whole Section 15 from any other source you use, to be on the safe side. The chances of going to court for anything but blatant and deliberate infringement are very small, but the community seems to take the OGL very seriously and even a hint of non-compliance will damage your reputation. Unless your Section 15 spills over onto the next page, it doesn't cost you anything to make sure you've dotted every i and crossed every t. Even if it does, it's not going to take up more than half a page and there's nothing stopping you from putting art on your license page.
I'm not a lawyer and this isn't legal advice. If I were a lawyer, I'd tell you to consult one with any questions you had about legal documents.