Just so no is confused, this is purely Brian's own speculation, and has absolutely zero basis in legal precedent. (Does MZB give up her copyright because people might sit around with friends telling their own stories of Darkover? Absolutely not, nor would such stories violate her copyright until they started being published. Publication is the key, the line in the sand as it were. I'm quite sure there's a very precise legal definition of it.) Based on all the legal precedent we do have, from closely related fields, trying to rip off a RPG's background is just as wrong as trying to rip off any similar creative work.
The whole issue seems pretty nonsensical to me in any case. Chaosium has very liberal policies regarding web sites and periodicals for Glorantha, and simply requires approval of non-periodical publications. You'll be hard pressed to find another professional game in the industry so open about others publishing in its world.
As one other quick comment: you're wrong in saying that Chaosium is applying its approval standard irregularly to its favorite publications. Only one publication meets the 2/year requirement right now: ToTRM, and that only just barely. It's expected that Trade Talk will as well when it gets rolling. The Book of Drastic Resolutions most definitely does not, and indeed the second issue required approval before it went to press.
With that said, this is another topic where I say: can we *please* move this off the Digest. Feel free to have a last word if you'd like Brian, but if you have a genuine concern you'd do much better to raise it with Rob Heinsoo at Chaosium. He is available via email at robmh_at_chaosium.com. If you'd prefer to send a more official letter, you can mail:
Chaosium Inc 950 56th St Oakland, CA 94608
Shannon
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