| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
If interested, you can read the entire 400+ post thread on the Paizo General Discussion forum here.
PF2 wont see much issue due to Paizo actively divorsing themselves from DnD stuff.
PF1 might see some issues due to it being compatible with 3.5 and in fact using some 3.5 monsters in some adventure paths.
Pf2 is still under the original ogl actually. Much less in common mechanically but the new ogl isn't just about mechanics but aspects of IP.
Think, of both have orcs, intellect devourer, etc.
Some would be a hard argument to be made though. Orcs existed before DND. Intellect devourer I dunno though
| 7 people marked this as a favorite. |
Orcs are not copyrightable by Wizards of the Coast. Never have been. Never will be. The word "Orc" is so heavily rooted in feudal English that you might as well say you can copyright fae, troll, or werewolf.
Also can't really copyright the name "intellect devourer" due to it being highly generic. It would be like copyrighting "coffee maker" or "pie eater".
Although the creature itself might get copyrighted.
Yes, that's what I was trying to say
Orcs are not copyrightable by Wizards of the Coast. Never have been. Never will be. The word "Orc" is so heavily rooted in feudal English that you might as well say you can copyright fae, troll, or werewolf.
Reputedly, that didn't stop GW trying to do it to "goblin" in the UK, and they verifibaly did try it with "Space Marines" (and lost the case).
Never under-estimate what the people only out to Make All Of the Money will try, especially since with the alarming increase in corporate conglomeration putting more and more stuff under the purview of fewer individuals.
(One only has to look at the visible exmaple of the computer games industry (which saw this sort of thing happen) wherein companies repeatedly monetise and hike prices, while none of the money goes to the actual staff, but to the (big) shareholders and CEOs/board. And that's the business we can most readily SEE, because it's a relatively new market and on whose nature means the consumer base is almost by necessity online; what the long-established business do and get away with won't be any different, we just won't see it as readily.)
So, they can't, but some idiot business-business-person could very well TRY.