Re: Rules for submitting licenses for review
On Fri, 26 Aug 2005, Raul Miller wrote:
> That said, it looks to me like this license grants you the right to use those
> game mechanics, including making and distributiong modified versions of
> them. If you've spotted someplace in this license which prohibits that kind
> of thing, I'd appreciate it if you could point that out to me.
Since game mechanics are not copyrightable, without a license at all you
still have the right to use them. Although the license does grant you the
right to use them, it grants you that with conditions. "Granting" you the
right to use something under some conditions, when previously you could use
it without conditions, is taking away rights, not granting them.
> > I suggest doing a Google groups search for rec.games.frp.dnd, TSR, and
> > "game mechanics" to see just what was going on at the time.
> The fact that they've used other licenses in the past, and might not offer
> all their material under this license does not constitute a flaw in this
> license.
It helps show that your interpretation is rather strained. TSR claimed
pretty close to the time of the OGL that game mechanics are copyrightable in
ways contrary to copyright law. The OGL's claim to license you to use game
mechanics needs to be seen in light of that.
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