Are the alien races in Starfinder consider "Product Identity"?

[Tom Gantert 146]

I have read the disclaimers in all the rule books and my question is do the aliens qualify as "proper nouns" ... Just curious because if I create a campaign, I want to adhere to the rules.
So basically, if I created a campaign world and use the Vesk, is that a Open Gaming License issue? I consider "Vesk" to be a proper noun.

[EltonJ]

Looks like a lawyer question to me, something I can't answer since I don't have a law degree. Perhaps someone else could answer this simple question.

[Ravingdork]

If it's a homebrew campaign for you and your friends there is no issue. However, if you were to try and sell your own campaign books using official Starfinder races without talking to Paizo first, well that will likely be an issue.

[hobblinharry]

Yeah if its homebrew do whatever you want, but the minute you try to commercialize it I think you have to apply for a Starfinder Compatibility license (like Pathfinder) but if there is a cost to that, or other details, I'm sure any info like that is best answered by a Paizo employee

[Xenocrat]

Just do it and be legends, man.

[GM Rednal]

Yeah, an official response is about the only way to know for sure.

That said, race names are usually open content. I'd be surprised if they weren't here.

[Claxon]

As long as your not trying to sell whatever you're thinking about creating, I think you're okay.

If you're just trying to create your own homebrew setting that you'd like to share on the internet for free, I'm pretty sure that's ok.

If you're looking to go beyond homebrew or looking to sell a product you should consult a lawyer and contact someone at Paizo (not sure who the proper person is).

[GM Rednal]

I usually recommend mailing [e-mail]. You can also examine the statement of product identity in a given work - it usually says whether or not things like the races are PI.

[Owen K. C. Stephens]

I am not a lawyer. This is not legal advice.
I am not in charge of Paizo licensing. This is not an official answer regarding Paizo IP licensing.
We don't capitalize "vesk" in Starfinder for the same reason we don't capitalize "human" or "goblin." The names of species generally aren't proper nouns (human, cat, dragonfly, and so on).
"Veskarium" is absolutely a proper noun, as is "Damoritosh" and "Hellknights." You can see they are capitalized wherever they appear.
But "vesk" is not.