Hey guys,
I was curious as to what the rules are for 3pp that are no longer available when it comes to the OGL. I have a PDF product that can literally no longer be found for sale anywhere, and the website associated with the company doesn't exist anymore.
The information inside is nifty, and I was hoping to use it in a PbP game but was unsure how to share it with the players. I like using 3pp for my games and I always post a link to d20pfsrd.com or even the MC Archetypes website rather than post the information myself, but for material that is not on the SRD is where I'm concerned.
My understanding of OGL legalese is somewhat lacking. If I were allowed to post information that is considered Open Gaming Content, what actions should I take to ensure I don't land myself in any hot water?
Can I post portions of information and mention what material they came from?
Do I have to ask the company/creator of said material permission to post the information that is designated OGC (which would of course be troublesome if the company no longer existed)?
Any advice on these would questions would be greatly appreciated.
Whatever you have, it is somewhere, out there, in the aether.
...
and by "aether" I mean places where you read it via an e-viewer or something.
If nothing else, check on d20pfsrd to see if it's there, either for sale or for viewing.
If you post a limited quantity of material, and credit the source, then you're covered in terms of general copyright rules, since there is an exception for brief quotes. Just don't put up the entire pdf for the world to download.
Or email it as an attached file to your players. Not really "fair use" but it sounds kind of like the stuff you're talking about is the rpg equivalent of "abandonware".
I'm all for preserving author's rights, but as long as you're respectful and try to follow the spirit of copyright protection, you're doing ten times more than most folks on the web.
YMMV.
For one of the prospective players, she wanted a specific class, so I manually typed it up in a Word file and e-mailed it to her.
As I said though, if I can find it on the SRD or another site, I'll post a link to it (or mention it if it isn't, such as saying 'As Per Blah Blah Supplement').
As for the "abandonware" file, I'm currently just re-typing all the pertinent stuff (weapons/armor, feats, skills, other gear) in a 'Campaign Guide' for my homebrew. I'll be sure to put a citation for it in the appendices.
So what PDF is it? Who are the authors?
It's called Steam & Steel by Sword and Sixguns Games, authored by Jonathon Curl. I got it a few years ago off of DTRPG, but it doesn't exist there anymore.
It's different from the Ronin Arts' "Steam & Steel" d20 supplements. I'm thinking the former might have accidentally copyright infringed on the later.
Anyone else have input on this?
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Does it have a declaration of Open Game Content?
Yes it does, Ms. Courts.
"DECLARATION OF OPEN CONTENT: All game mechanics, proper names of classes, prestige classes, archetypes, feats, skills, spells, magic items, monsters, rituals, artifacts and or the names of abilities presented within this book are Open Game Content as described in Section 1(d) of the License."
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Anyone else have input on this?
I think the problem is that without seeing the OGL statements from the actual book, we can't really guide you.
There will be the OGL (a big block of text That wil start like this:
of the Coast, Inc. (“Wizards”). All Rights Reserved.
1. Definitions: (a) “Contributors” means the copyright and/or trademark owners who have
contributed Open Game Content;
and probably a product identity block, potentially in the credits page up front, for example
oldest fantasy roleplaying game.
Product Identity: The following items are hereby identified as Product Identity, as defined in the Open Game License version 1.0a, Section 1(e), and are not Open
Content: All trademarks, registered trademarks, proper names (characters, deities, etc.), dialogue, plots, storylines, locations, characters, artwork, and trade dress.
(Elements that have previously been designated as Open Game Content or are in the public domain are not included in this declaration.)
Open Content: Except for material designated as Product Identity (see above), the game mechanics of this Paizo game product are Open Game Content,
as defined in the Open Game License version 1.0a Section 1(d). No portion of this work other than the material designated as Open Game Content may be
reproduced in any form without written permission.
If it's got the OGL, and the items you want to quote are not excluded by the product identity statement, then as long as the way you are distributing the item includes the OGL, and the copy of the OGL includes steam & steel in it's Section 15, you should be covered
Open Game License v 1.0a © 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
System Reference Document © 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors: Jonathan Tweet,
Monte Cook, and Skip Williams, based on material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.
Kobold Quarterly, Issue 7 © 2008, Open Design LLC, www.koboldquarterly.com; Authors:
John Baichtal, Wolfgang Baur, Ross Byers, Matthew Cicci, John Flemming, Jeremy Jones, Derek
Kagemann, Phillip Larwood, Richard Pett, and Stan!
Animal Lord, Cat Lord from the Tome of Horrors Complete © 2011, Necromancer Games,
Inc., published and distributed by Frog God Games; Author: Scott Greene, based on original
material by Gary Gygax.
Aurumvorax from the Tome of Horrors Complete © 2011, Necromancer Games, Inc., published
and distributed by Frog God Games; Author: Scott Greene, based on original material by Gary
Gygax.
Mihstu from the Tome of Horrors Complete © 2011, Necromancer Games, Inc., published and
distributed by Frog God Games; Author: Scott Greene, based on original material by Gary Gygax.
Pathfinder Adventure Path #87: The Choking Tower © 2014, Paizo Inc.; Authors: Ron Lundeen,
with Paris Crenshaw, Mark Garringer, Patrick Renie, and Amber E. Scott.
So, if I were interested in distributing the main bad guy from Chocking tower for example, I would look at his bit in the book. I would then need to go through it looking to see if any items in him were part of that product identity. His name would have to be removed first off, and most of the background on him would also have to come out, under the plots/storylines bit. If the statblock mentioned a God he worshipped (for example if he were a cleric), that would also have to come out, and any equipment, spells or feats including proper names would have to be removed (for example, if he had a Cayden's cup, that would need to come out, and something similar but not the same would have to go in - the best example is how Pathfinder has Mage's Sword, but the 3.5 handbook has a different name for the same spell. What you'd likely be left with is the statblock on it's own.
I am not a lawyer, and even if I were,it wouldn't be wise to take my advice based on what you'd supplied me (or without paying me!), but if you're just distributing for friends, or even distributing publiclly but for free, getting the OGL attached with a correctly completed Section 15 included should easily cover you. If you were planning to sell it on, it'd be worth paying a Copyright or at least Business Lawyer to sit down with the book, and the OGL and give you concrete advice on what to do, or at least general guidelines on how to implement the OGL, but from how you describe it? Nothing you'd do would be prticularly wrong, and certainly not wrong or big enough to earn a Cease & Desist notice, let alone a suit.
Edit:
Bah Gninjaed!
TLDR of above; copy the ogl straight, Only include things on the List you quote from the book, you're fine.
So, I copy the OGL and add Steam & Steel or whatever source material I use in my document? And this would allow me to put said Open Content in the Guide.
Another question would be for classes. If it's on the PRD I'd of course just put a blurb/link to the item, but for something that isn't on the PRD would I be able to put the class in it's entirety (minus the flavor text that is often added)? The class is in Chapter Two, and part of the Declaration of Open Content states: The entirety of Chapters One through Six, all statistics excluding proper names in Chapter Seven, the entirety of Chapter Eight excluding proper names...
Modules Overlord
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If it is Open Content you can:
1. Include all the open content from the source document into your own new document
2: Include the OGL itself in your own new document
3: Copy the entire "Section 15" (the Copyright Notice) of the OGL in the source document into your new document. If you use multiple sources, include all items from each Section 15.
4: Add your own copyright notice (such as "Warhawk7's Campaign Notes: Copyright 2014 Warhawk7," but likely with your legal name).
5. Add a declaration of open content. All content you have taken from elsewhere that was open must be open in your own document. Anything based off that content must be open. brand new things can be open or not, that's your decisions.
You now have a legal document you can give to anyone you want.
Parsing what is and is not open is the trickiest part of this, but when someone declares all of a chapter or even an entire book open, it's pretty clear.
Cool, thank you Owen. So, I can just simply put the following?
DECLARATION OF OPEN CONTENT: All material in this document is Open Game Content as described in Section 1(d) of the License.
Or would it need to be more specific.
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Cool, thank you Owen. So, I can just simply put the following?
DECLARATION OF OPEN CONTENT: All material in this document is Open Game Content as described in Section 1(d) of the License.
Or would it need to be more specific.
If everything in your document falls under Owen's point 5 or is your own work, that would be a suitable declaration. If you want or need to exclude anything from open content, art, for example, you might have to say a bit more.
With the proviso Starglim noted, yes.
I want to thank everyone for their advice. It has been greatly appreciated.
Dot
For further reference.
Much gratitude to all involved.