Re: Mongoose and Issaries Part Ways

From: ian_hammond_cooper <ian_hammond_cooper_at_rLpclb9A-VFv1JCFVMcS8m86nRr6GV5hqfnrMBpECCqeO4OsV_n3S0ea8>
Date: Tue, 24 May 2011 21:38:59 -0000

> SRD is a System Reference Document. MRQ1 was OGL with an SRD and so let the cat out of the bag with many previously Gloranthan-only terms such as Dragonewts, Gorp, Runes (just the names, not the depictions) and so forth. That means that 3rd-party publishers can use those terms in their products. Because you can change anything in an SRD, you are not bound to follow it (i.e. you can tweak the rules or re-write them completely), but it does allow you access to some words which would otherwise be Intellectual Property (IP).
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Danger Wil Robinson, Danger, Danger

The inclusion of a term in an SRD under the OGL does not guarantee you a right to it, only that the publisher of the SRD grants you rights to use their IP. Just because Mongoose include a reference to it does not mean that you gain rights to Issaries IP. Issaries would have to do that. As for the various OSS software licenses that do not exempt you from patents, inclusion in the SRD does not grant you access to non-Mongoose IP unless Issaries was explicit.

This is really off-topic, but I just wanted folks to exercise caution. I would discuss with Issaries privately if you want to use their IP            

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