[Snippet] OGL License Text

[G-Ambatte]

A snippet that contains the text of the Open Game License would be a useful shortcut, aiding those users who would like to release their content on sites like the DMs Guild or similar. I would envisage that such a snippet would follow a similar approach to sites like Roll20, and may help clear up users with issues like those raised in #723.

Due to the length of the OGL license text, it may be useful to append the text on it's own page at the end of the current Brew.

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Link to SRD & OGL information: https://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/systems-reference-document-srd

Roll20.net replicates the entire text of the OGL License, as can be seen here and is duplicated below:

OGL License

Permission to copy, modify and distribute the files collectively known as the System Reference Document 5.1 (“SRD5”) is granted solely through the use of the Open Gaming License, Version 1.0a. This material is being released using the Open Gaming License Version 1.0a and you should read and understand the terms of that License before using this material.

The text of the Open Gaming License itself is not Open Game Content. Instructions on using the License are provided within the License itself. The following items are designated Product Identity, as defined in Section 1(e) of the Open Game License Version 1.0a, and are subject to the Conditions set forth in Section 7 of the OGL, and are not Open Content: Dungeons & Dragons, D&D, Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master, Monster Manual, d20 System, Wizards of the Coast, d20 (when used as a trademark), Forgotten Realms, Faerûn, proper names (including those used in the names of Spells or items), places, Underdark, Red Wizard of Thay, the City of Union, Heroic Domains of Ysgard, EverChanging Chaos of Limbo, Windswept Depths of Pandemonium, Infinite Layers of The Abyss, Tarterian Depths of Carceri, Gray Waste of Hades, Bleak Eternity of Gehenna, Nine Hells of Baator, Infernal Battlefield of Acheron, Clockwork Nirvana of Mechanus, Peaceable Kingdoms of Arcadia, Seven Mounting Heavens of Celestia, Twin Paradises of Bytopia, Blessed Fields of Elysium, Wilderness of The Beastlands, Olympian Glades of Arborea, Concordant Domain of the Outlands, Sigil, Lady of Pain, Book of Exalted Deeds, Book of Vile Darkness, Beholder, gauth, Carrion Crawler, tanar’ri, baatezu, Displacer Beast, Githyanki, Githzerai, Mind Flayer, illithid, Umber Hulk, Yuan-ti.

All of the rest of the SRD5 is Open Game Content as described in Section 1(d) of the License. The terms of the Open Gaming License Version 1.0a are as follows:

OPEN GAME License Version 1.0a The following text is the property of Wizards of the Coast, LLC. and is Copyright 2000 Wizards 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; (b)"Derivative Material" means copyrighted material including derivative works and translations (including into other computer languages), potation, modification, correction, addition, extension, upgrade, improvement, compilation, abridgment or other form in which an existing work may be recast, transformed or adapted; (c) "Distribute" means to reproduce, License, rent, lease, sell, broadcast, publicly display, transmit or otherwise distribute; (d)"Open Game Content" means the game mechanic and includes the methods, procedures, processes and routines to the extent such content does not embody the Product Identity and is an enhancement over the prior art and any additional content clearly identified as Open Game Content by the Contributor, and means any work covered by this License, including translations and derivative works under copyright law, but specifically excludes Product Identity. (e) "Product Identity" means product and product line names, logos and identifying marks including trade dress; artifacts; Creatures characters; stories, storylines, plots, thematic elements, dialogue, incidents, language, artwork, Symbols, designs, depictions, likenesses, formats, poses, concepts, themes and graphic, photographic and other visual or audio representations; names and descriptions of Characters, Spells, enchantments, personalities, teams, personas, likenesses and Special abilities; places, locations, environments, Creatures, Equipment, magical or supernatural Abilities or Effects, logos, Symbols, or graphic designs; and any other trademark or registered trademark clearly identified as Product identity by the owner of the Product Identity, and which specifically excludes the OPEN Game Content; (f) "Trademark" means the logos, names, mark, sign, motto, designs that are used by a Contributor to Identify itself or its products or the associated products contributed to the Open Game License by the Contributor (g) "Use", "Used" or "Using" means to use, Distribute, copy, edit, format, modify, translate and otherwise create Derivative Material of Open Game Content. (h) "You" or "Your" means the licensee in terms of this agreement.

2. The License: This License applies to any Open Game Content that contains a notice indicating that the Open Game Content may only be Used under and in terms of this License. You must affix such a notice to any Open Game Content that you Use. No terms may be added to or subtracted from this License except as described by the License itself. No other terms or Conditions may be applied to any Open Game Content distributed using this License.

3. Offer and Acceptance: By Using the Open Game Content You indicate Your acceptance of the terms of this License.

4. Grant and Consideration: In consideration for agreeing to use this License, the Contributors grant You a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, nonexclusive License with the exact terms of this License to Use, the Open Game Content.

5. Representation of Authority to Contribute: If You are contributing original material as Open Game Content, You represent that Your Contributions are Your original Creation and/or You have sufficient rights to grant the rights conveyed by this License.

6. Notice of License Copyright: You must update the COPYRIGHT NOTICE portion of this License to include the exact text of the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any Open Game Content You are copying, modifying or distributing, and You must add the title, the copyright date, and the copyright holder's name to the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any original Open Game Content you Distribute.

7. Use of Product Identity: You agree not to Use any Product Identity, including as an indication as to compatibility, except as expressly licensed in another, independent Agreement with the owner of each element of that Product Identity. You agree not to indicate compatibility or co-adaptability with any Trademark or Registered Trademark in conjunction with a work containing Open Game Content except as expressly licensed in another, independent Agreement with the owner of such Trademark or Registered Trademark. The use of any Product Identity in Open Game Content does not constitute a Challenge to the ownership of that Product Identity. The owner of any Product Identity used in Open Game Content shall retain all rights, title and interest in and to that Product Identity.

8. Identification: If you distribute Open Game Content You must clearly indicate which portions of the work that you are distributing are Open Game Content.

9. Updating the License: Wizards or its designated Agents may publish updated versions of this License. You may use any authorized version of this License to copy, modify and distribute any Open Game Content originally distributed under any version of this License.

10. Copy of this License: You MUST include a copy of this License with every copy of the Open Game Content You Distribute.

11. Use of Contributor Credits: You may not market or advertise the Open Game Content using the name of any Contributor unless You have written permission from the Contributor to do so.

12. Inability to Comply: If it is impossible for You to comply with any of the terms of this License with respect to some or all of the Open Game Content due to statute, judicial order, or governmental regulation then You may not Use any Open Game Material so affected.

13. Termination: This License will terminate automatically if You fail to comply with all terms herein and fail to cure such breach within 30 days of becoming aware of the breach. All sublicenses shall survive the termination of this License.

14. Reformation: If any provision of this License is held to be unenforceable, such provision shall be reformed only to the extent necessary to make it enforceable.

15. COPYRIGHT NOTICE Open Game License v 1.0a Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, LLC. System Reference Document 5.1 Copyright 2016, Wizards of the Coast, LLC.; Authors Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford, Chris Perkins, Rodney Thompson, Peter Lee, James Wyatt, Robert J. Schwalb, Bruce R. Cordell, Chris Sims, and Steve Townshend, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.

[ericscheid]

Looks good, though I would also recommend adding an extra bit to the snippet, such as

{{note
**HEY AUTHOR, DON'T FORGET TO UPDATE SECTION 15**  
— SEE SECTION 5 FOR WHAT YOU MUST DO.  
*(Then delete this note, obviously)*
}}

[5e-Cleric]

Well MAYBE this should wait until the O.G.L. 1.1 comes out, or Paizo beats WotC in court.

[G-Ambatte]

It's a simple thing to add, just no one has got to it in the past year... Now it's the subject of a legal battle, so it will either become incredibly relevant or incredibly moot.

Although it may be useful to add an ORC snippet once Paizo releases it. I think I read somewhere that Kobold Press was also onboard with Paizo? Although their press release was before Paizo's... So maybe there won't be a need for a separate Kobold Press Project Black Flag snippet, or a MCDM license snippet...

All we can do is wait and see, at this point. But we can attach a license text snippet to each individual theme, so the Pathfinder theme has the Paizo ORC license snippet, while 5E has whatever OGL/Fan Content license, etc.

[Gazook89]

I think a dropdown of all licenses should be considered, regardless of theme.

[G-Ambatte]

I think a dropdown of all licenses should be considered, regardless of theme.

That is probably a better idea - just because you're using a PF2E theme doesn't mean we can assume that the user wants the ORC license over OGL, or even a CC.

[ericscheid]

I think a dropdown of all licenses should be considered, regardless of theme.

A drop down with references to various licences, or the actual content of those licences?

The former is supported (though not filled out) with the tags system. license:OGL1.0a, licence:ORC1.0, licence:CC4.0 BY-SA-NC, etc.

[5e-Cleric]

I think what Gazook suggests is a dropdown of all the possible licenses, with just the name, and by clicking on it you would add another page with the full license.

Another thing to consider would be the GM Binder style: "This is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC." at the end of every page.

[G-Ambatte]

The intent of the original (has it already been a year?) was to add a snippet that allowed the text of the OGL1.0a to be added in a couple of clicks. With the current drama and announcement of new licenses, once they have boilerplate that needs to be added, they could also be added as options.

As Homebrewery is currently moving to a more system-agnostic stance, putting the license text snippets into their own menu (or a single snippet that presents a drop down list for selection prior to text insertion) seems like the best option. However, for exactly that same reason, because we are moving to be system-agnostic, the Fan Content Policy text should NOT be automatically added to each page but rather be another option for the snippet.

Snippet Text Options:

• WotC Fan Content Policy disclaimer
• OGL1.0a
• OGL1.1/2.0*
• ORC*
• CC/MIT
• GPL

I'm not 100% familiar with Creative Commons licenses, the text to insert may just be a link to the license on the CC website.

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* When finalized and exact text to identify the license in use is confirmed.

[Gazook89]

I imagine it just drops in a div with the license text. Then the themes themselves can style/position those license elements however they want.

[G-Ambatte]

Given the latest news drop, it looks like CC-BY-4.0 is the winner for D&D licenses.

https://www.dndbeyond.com/posts/1439-ogl-1-0a-creative-commons