Dungeons and Dragons (D&D)-maker Wizards of the Coast (WotC) says in its latest attempt to update its decades-old Open Game License (OGL), “Open Game License 1.0a is no longer a licensed license.” It still contains controversial statements. The news comes as the company’s first attempt to draft his OGL update, which includes similar language (and other controversial changes), was met with widespread fan outrage and alienation from the creator community. brought later.
WotC states that this proposed “deauthorization” of OGL v1.0a will not affect original content published under its previous license since its debut in the early 2000s, and that such content will be It states that you do not need to relicense to renew or comply. New OGL language.However, the published content rear According to the update as a draft, once the proposed OGL v1.2 takes effect, it will no longer be possible to simply choose the previous license instead.
In an explainer post on the D&D Beyond blog, WotC Executive Producer Kyle Brink said that WotC is aware that this planned deauthorization is a “huge concern” for the community. But he added that new OGL restrictions on illegal and/or hateful content, including “harmful, discriminatory, illegal, obscene or harassing conduct” as defined by WotC, must be enforced.
“If someone can choose to publish harmful, discriminatory, or illegal content under 1.0a, they cannot use the 1.2 protection options,” Brink wrote. He added that ensuring such an “inclusive play experience” was a “very important” goal and was not included in his original OGL.
However, whether WotC actually has the legal authority to fully revoke previous OGL versions is still an open question. This indicates to the original OGL that a player may “use an approved version of this License to copy, modify, and distribute Open Game Content originally distributed under any version of this License. because it clearly states that it can
The original OGL did not contain a specific language that was irrevocable. However, in the FAQ posted when the original OGL was published, WotC directly states “even if Wizards makes changes.” [to the license] If you disagree, you are free to continue using the previous acceptable version,” said former OGL architect and former WotC VP Ryan Dancey in a recent interview with tabletop gaming site En World. said the company “does not have the power to deauthorize versions of OGL. If that was the power they wanted to secure for Hasbro, they would have listed it in their license.”
come to the commons
Aside from the deauthorization of OGL v1.0a, the new draft language will continue to revive the original leaked version, including plans to require revenue reporting, plans to collect royalties for the largest content creators, and plans to force a license back to WotC. Reduces many of the most controversial parts of the update to original content. The new draft language also clarifies that the new license is “perpetual, non-exclusive, irrevocable” and that only a few technical sections are subject to future changes.
D&DThe core mechanics of are licensable under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). This states that WotC “imposes no restrictions on how its content can be used.” That’s not strictly true, but that license grants the content of its rules a “worldwide, royalty-free, non-sublicensable, non-exclusive, grant an irrevocable license.
“essentially D&D The new license allows the use, modification, and distribution of “content published by WotC” (e.g., classes, spells, monsters, and other creative content created by the company), with some restrictions. As noted above, the draft language prohibits anything that infringes the IP of third parties or implies official endorsement from WotC.
According to WotC, a survey allowing members of the public to comment on this new draft OGL language will be published sometime on Friday and will be available until February 3rd. Iterations of this kind of feedback “extend as long as necessary…until we get it right,” Brink wrote.
