kiln publications
Mongoose
I have seen OGL by it several times throughout but I know this is a licensed product.
what parts of Conan are OGL???
- Thread starter kiln publications
- Start date
Odovacar's Ghost
Mongoose
Perhaps only the game mechanics is OGL.
kiln publications
Mongoose
That's what I was thinking.
All OGL publishers are required to clearly indicate what material is OGL and what OGL material is in fact Product Identity. Most put this notice either in the back of the book, near the OGL itself, or in the front near the normal copyright notice.
In the case of Conan you can look on the title page where it states
IANAL
In the case of Conan you can look on the title page where it states
They also indicate, both in the copyright notice and in Section 15 of the OGL what parts of the book are tradmarked (which has special meaning under the OGL).
IANAL
kiln publications
Mongoose
So if you don't use any proper names, any names from Howard's books or estate and create your own lands you are safe. Just can't use the name "conan" however you could say for use with your "favorite barbarian's rulebook". Right??
I would be REALLY careful when doing so, making certain to even run the book past Mongoose before publishing. OTOH, who'd buy it if they weren't sure who it was for, so I don't think it would be a big deal. If it is just freebie stuff, see if they'll let you post it online and if it is actually publication-worthy, submit it to S&P. Save yourself the hassle.kiln publications said:
kiln publications
Mongoose
WE aren't doing anything for Conan I was just asking because someone brought up the OGL part somewhere, trust me we have our plate full.
Odovacar's Ghost
Mongoose
I love it when people here jump to conclusions. Nothing against you Kiln.
kiln publications
Mongoose
That's OK, I am just curious about the legal mechanics of OGL and licensed stuff. Being a new publisher I try to broaden my horizons.
IANAL
Woah, hold on a moment there chief. If you actually want to publish you are going to need to make sure you have dotted your i's and crossed all your t's. You should be more than curious before you try going to press, unless you enjoy lawsuits and bankruptcy that is.
Step 1: you can read more about the d20 system here including several FAQ's about OGL publishing on this page.
Step 2: get a lawyer. Seriously.
Step 3: be very careful when advertising/making claims about your products being compatiable with/for use with another publisher's products. Under Section 7 of the OGL a publisher retains the rights to his own trademark and any claims of compatiability with his own product and any other publisher who wants to make such claims must make an independent agreement with him seprate from the rights granted by the OGL. The logic behind this is simple: trademarks/brand names have value in as much as consumers assoicate that mark with the quality of products produced by the owner of the mark. If any halfwit can claim his product is "compatiable" with a trademarked product (say he claims his suplement is "compatiable with DnD") and his product is crap then that reduces the value of the mark. I see on your website that you say you have lisences to publish for OGL Steampunk (and others) so maybe you already know all this. It's worth saying anyway.
Step 4: get a lawyer. Don't trust legal advice from anonynmous sources on the internet who are in fact bored college students with too much time on their hands and no legal trainning whatsoever.
Step 5: hey, have fun. You're living the dream. I envy you.
Oh yeah, and don't forget to get a lawyer. Good luck.
Woah, hold on a moment there chief. If you actually want to publish you are going to need to make sure you have dotted your i's and crossed all your t's. You should be more than curious before you try going to press, unless you enjoy lawsuits and bankruptcy that is.
Step 1: you can read more about the d20 system here including several FAQ's about OGL publishing on this page.
Step 2: get a lawyer. Seriously.
Step 3: be very careful when advertising/making claims about your products being compatiable with/for use with another publisher's products. Under Section 7 of the OGL a publisher retains the rights to his own trademark and any claims of compatiability with his own product and any other publisher who wants to make such claims must make an independent agreement with him seprate from the rights granted by the OGL. The logic behind this is simple: trademarks/brand names have value in as much as consumers assoicate that mark with the quality of products produced by the owner of the mark. If any halfwit can claim his product is "compatiable" with a trademarked product (say he claims his suplement is "compatiable with DnD") and his product is crap then that reduces the value of the mark. I see on your website that you say you have lisences to publish for OGL Steampunk (and others) so maybe you already know all this. It's worth saying anyway.
Step 4: get a lawyer. Don't trust legal advice from anonynmous sources on the internet who are in fact bored college students with too much time on their hands and no legal trainning whatsoever.
Step 5: hey, have fun. You're living the dream. I envy you.
Oh yeah, and don't forget to get a lawyer. Good luck.
kiln publications
Mongoose
argo said:
OK first of all I asked a question, at no time do you read that we were going to publish anything related to the Conan RPG line. As for the way you have come across in this post it is rather abrupt and assuming... Anything that I have posted has been licensed before I have posted it. Contact Matthew if you are unsure of anything. I have legal contracts with Mongoose Publishing for every OGL Rulebook that we are going to have supplemental material for. I have been given logos directly from Matthew himself for our publishing needs. My background is I have a BFA in graphic design and I have run my own newspaper that had a readership of 100,000. I am currently the graphic designer for a hobby magazine that has a readership of over 18,000 in the US, and Europe. I do not go into things like this blindly. I have read the SRD's and OGL throughly and any questions I have had have been directed to Matthew at Mongoose Publishing or Andy at WOTC! So as far as you stating I need a lawyer three times I understood it the first time. I thank you for you need to help me realize something that I have already looked into for the past six months. As for believing the "anonynmous sources on the internet who are in fact bored college students with too much time on their hands and no legal trainning whatsoever" how do I know that you in fact are not one in the same, your profile states that you are a student? I thank you also for your wishing us good luck and appreciate your concern in this matter. Have a nice day.
kiln publications
Mongoose
ATTENTION MODS, please delete or lock this thread before it gets out of hand and people take it way out of context. Thank you.
I'm sorry if I seemed abrupt, I didn't mean to offend or criticize only to help. As for being assuming, well yeah I assumed the worst case scenario... that you had no idea how the legal issues involved here work. I don't really believe that you are ignorant of these issues, espically since as I said I can see on your website that you are apparently dealing with them already, but the safest thing is to assume that you don't since the consequences of failing to adhere to legal nuance can be quite severe.kiln publications said:
And I do have to admit that the fact that you failed to find the happy fun legal text on the first page of the Conan book which indicates which parts are OGL leads me to believe that someone else in your company is responsible for handling the finer points of copyright law. Nothing wrong with that.
Thats what makes the joke funny mi amigo. 8) But there is a point there as well:
Believe nothing I say for I know not of what I speak! And all mine words shall be as dust before the wind and all mine deeds found wanting! Gaze upon me ye princes of the digital realm and weep for the folly of man....
Which is why I recomend you get a lawyer instead. :wink:
KIDDING!!! I'm kidding, I kid.... I kid because I love :lol:
I love because I'm lonely
Heh, at any rate I wish you well in your endeavors. I don't play steampunk but I'll keep an eye out for your products. Good luck. And I hope this helped.
Truth be told - the original question - "What Parts of Conan are OGL?" was inquired because none of us at Kiln Publications have, yet, a copy of the Conan Core Rulebook. The first printing is sold out and Mongoose was awaiting a second printing as of Origins. Hopefully we'll get our hands on a copy or two either at Gen Con or from our local store.
That's all.
The question was out of pure & innocent ignorance & bliss. We don't yet have a copy so we didn't realize there was a title page disclaimer on the OGL licensing and mechanics. We'll look into it further.
- Stratos
That's all.
The question was out of pure & innocent ignorance & bliss. We don't yet have a copy so we didn't realize there was a title page disclaimer on the OGL licensing and mechanics. We'll look into it further.
- Stratos
kiln publications
Mongoose
Cool, OK we are fine, I am glad we are over with that. In all honesty and joking aside have you thought of putting up a webpage that explains the ins and outs of the OGL and SRD information. I think you would be very good at it. BTW: I like the Triumph joke at the end. It was great.... great enough for me to poop on... OK playtime over.. gotta go call a lawyer :lol:
Odovacar's Ghost
Mongoose
Wow, this was a quite entertaining thread. Nice to see that it is very easy to misunderstand a post. Which is quite common around here.
Also, a simple viewing of Kiln Publishing's website would show that they have and are coming out wil OGL books. So, that would probably have stopped the lawyer bit. Which was quite entertaining.
No, this is not an attack against the mighty argo. I simply enjoyed his post. Made my day enjoyable.
Also, a simple viewing of Kiln Publishing's website would show that they have and are coming out wil OGL books. So, that would probably have stopped the lawyer bit. Which was quite entertaining.
No, this is not an attack against the mighty argo. I simply enjoyed his post. Made my day enjoyable.
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi
Mongoose
Hey guys. I just looked at your site. I'm not intrested in Cybernet or OGL horror, but if you made some OGL Ancients stuff you might be able to get some clams comming your way from me.
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