[cc-community] [Off List] Re: New Open Gaming Licence
Jon Phillips
jon at creativecommons.org
Thu Feb 21 03:14:47 EST 2008
Ok, I got in contact with them...It will hopefully lead somewhere :)
Jon
On Fri, 2008-02-15 at 15:59 +0100, Peter Brink wrote:
> rob at robmyers.org skrev:
> > Quoting Jon Phillips <jon at creativecommons.org>:
> >
> >> What would be the best CC license that could be called an "Open Gaming
> >> License" to all you nerds out there in cc gaming land wearing a viking
> >> helmet witha battle axe in tow :)
> >
> > The OGL is a mix of SA and NC pretty much like the FDL. BY-SA is
> > probably the closest, but you'd need to sell them on educating people
> > about Trademarks.
>
> While a description of the method used to play a certain game could be
> subject to copyright protection, I've never encountered a case where the
> plaintiffs have succeeded in proving that that is the case. Courts have
> found their descriptions non-original. The problem seems to be that the
> description of the rules of a game are very prone to merge with the very
> rules being explained, for example there aren't that many ways one can
> explain how the playing pieces of the game of chess are allowed to move.
>
> If one feels the need for a license, then the GPL would in my opinion
> probably be the best choice of a license for games. With such products
> it's quite desirable to be able to easily edit the "source", i.e. the
> description of the game mechanics and with the GPL one could request
> easy access to the source.
>
> When it comes to trademarks, it's actually the authors of the OGL that
> needs to be educated... Hasbro claims as a trademark a description of an
> item common to the entire RPG business (a twenty-sided dice) as well as
> the functionality of that item (a system of play using a twenty-sided
> dice). At least in the EU one cannot claim such trademarks.
>
> /Peter Brink
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Jon Phillips
jon at creativecommons.org
skype: kidproto (preferred phone)
im: kidproto
china phone: +86 1-360-282-8624
Business + Community Manager
Creative Commons
www.creativecommons.org
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