Can a Commercial Publisher use CUP for a Free Product?

[Poikilos]

I submitted a character sheet to DriveThruRPG under the CUP license. I used the Pathfinder logo, but they said I had to revise my character sheet to instead use the "Pathfinder Compatibility" logo. However, I don't want to use that license. I made the product free and I even put the Community Use Policy notice at the bottom. The Community Use Policy says I can use anything in the Community Use Package (which contains various Pathfinder logos including the one I used). Note that IANAL. The Community Use Policy FAQ explicitly says I can use the Pathfinder logo under the CUP even though the Compatibility License can only use the Pathfinder Compatible logo. If DriveThruRPG is wrong they should be informed and improve their process. However, they may be right: the FAQ also says any "Commercial Publisher" cannot use the license. Therefore, it isn't clear if a commercial publisher can make a free product and use the Community Use Policy (ever, even for a separate free product). Hopefully the FAQ will be improved to clarify this. It seems like that should be allowed.

[GM Lamplighter]

IANAL also, but "Community Use" doesn't apply to commercial publishers regardless of the cost of the product in question. Also, this isn't DriveThruRPG's first rodeo, so I don't think they are wrong.

[Mark Moreland]

GM Lamplighter wrote:

IANAL also, but "Community Use" doesn't apply to commercial publishers regardless of the cost of the product in question. Also, this isn't DriveThruRPG's first rodeo, so I don't think they are wrong.

I missed this thread before now (apologies!) but this is correct. If you are commercially releasing your product, even for free, it can't use the CUP. In this case, DTRPG is a commercial entity, and anyone selling or distributing content on their platform would be considered commercial as well. If you want to make a character sheet and distribute it on your own, non-commercial website, you can do so under the CUP.

You might also want to look at Pathfinder Infinite, which is on DTRPG, and lets you bypass all the restrictions of the CUP when releasing something there, either for free or paid.