Licenses and other pesky stuff

[noahtrammell]

  So I'm considering using FATE for a game.  Could anyone give me a quick explanation of how the OGL works?  Are there any quirks I should be aware of  in the license?  How do I use it?  Thanks in advance.

[Dan Maruschak]

It might also be easier for you to frame the discussion with more specific questions. What you are asking is a little broad.

In essence, the OGL gives you the right to create derivative works from a certain body of text (usually the SRD that the license is associated with) with a guarantee that the authors won't sue you for copyright infringement (assuming you follow the license rules, such as including the required license text, etc.). Whether there are any "quirks" or not really depends on your definition of quirk. If you want to gain the benefits of the license, make sure that you write your text based off of their OGL-licensed text (such as an SRD), rather than based off the complete published game. There is usually stuff in the game that isn't released under OGL (frequently "fluff text" kind of stuff, but sometimes mechanics, too), and if you create a derivative work based on the stuff that wasn't explicitly licensed you may be infringing their copyright. (Also, this seems more like a "Publishing" questions than a "Connections" question.)

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Noah,

This strikes me as a direct publisher inquiry. You are probably best off asking Fred Hicks (Evil Hat Productions) directly, perhaps using the Contact page at their website.

Best, Ron

[noahtrammell]

  I think you actually answered most of my questions, Dan.  So to use the OGL you basically have cut-and-paste the license in as well as the people who originally wrote the work?

  No prob, Ron.  For some reason I always thought "Connections" was the place you were supposed to ask questions.

[Dan Maruschak]

So to use the OGL you basically have cut-and-paste the license in as well as the people who originally wrote the work?

You have to follow the terms of the license. Including the license text is part of that, as is the way you need to indicate your sources, as are some other things. Have you read the license? It's pretty straightforward. You need to make sure that you actually understand what you are agreeing to before using it, rather than relying on someone else giving you the gist of it. A license is just a specialized form of a contract, and you shouldn't agree to any contract without understanding the terms of it.