Post by Ricochet on Jan 4, 2011 11:34:15 GMT -5
I came across this on the Dark Dungeons site:
To point out the obvious, Dark Dungeons is a Retroclone of D&D BECMI/Rules Cyclopedia. Now this has put some dangerous thoughts in my head.
The first question is: Is this legal? (And does anybody care)
The second question is: Can this be applied to some other game we all know and love?
What is a Retro-Clone?
Dark Dungeons is not just a role-playing game. It is specifically a retro-clone role-playing game. That term also needs explaining. Like the paraphernalia used in any other hobby, role-playing games (and their rule books) are subject to the forces of both fashion and business. While some manage to last for decades with a small following, others go out of print and become unavailable; either because they are no longer fashionable or because the companies that made them no longer exist. This is a problem for the hobby, partly because old games often quickly become “collector’s items” which keeps them out of the hands of people who would otherwise enjoy playing them; and partly because intellectual property and copyright laws often prevent fans from providing support for a game that the original publisher is unable or unwilling to support themselves.
This is where “retro-clones” come in.
Retro-clones are designed to fill two functions. Firstly they allow new people to have the experience of playing the old game even though it is long out-of-print and may be hard to get hold of; and secondly, they allow fans of the old game who wish to continue to support it now that the company that produced it no longer does (but who cannot legally produce material that is explicitly for the game) to produce material that is instead designed for use with the retro-clone of the game, knowing that it will also be compatible (with some minor changes in terminology) with the old game.
There are two legal principles that such retro-clones rely on. Firstly, in Europe and America, it is not possible to copyright the game mechanics of a game. However, it is possible to copyright the “artistic presentation” of those game mechanics – i.e. the way they are described and the specific terminology they use. Therefore, using the same principle as “reverse engineering” a piece of technology, it is possible to produce a new game in which the rules are identical to those of an existing game, but in which those rules are presented in a completely new manner that does not infringe on the artistic presentation used in that existing game. Secondly, Wizards of the Coast have published a System Reference Document (or SRD) under a license called the Open Game License (or OGL). This game license allows anyone to use the rules—and more importantly the terminology—of the SRD in their own games and game supplements, providing that those games and/or supplements are themselves released at least partly under the OGL.
Without the first of those principles, a game released under the OGL would have to either copy the SRD mechanics or have wholly original mechanics. Without the second principle, a game released with mechanics similar to an out-of-print game would have to have completely new and unfamiliar terminology. However, when both principles are put together, a retro-clone can be produced that combines the familiar mechanics of an out of print non-OGL game with the familiar terminology of the SRD. Dark Dungeons is such a retro-clone. The terminology used in this game is taken from the SRD via the terms of the OGL, and the game mechanics of the game very closely match the game mechanics of a specific out-of-print version of the world’s most popular role-playing game. However, to avoid issues with trademark and copyright laws, that game is not mentioned by name within either this site or the game book and no specific compatibility or endorsement with it or with any other existing role-playing game is claimed.
Dark Dungeons is not just a role-playing game. It is specifically a retro-clone role-playing game. That term also needs explaining. Like the paraphernalia used in any other hobby, role-playing games (and their rule books) are subject to the forces of both fashion and business. While some manage to last for decades with a small following, others go out of print and become unavailable; either because they are no longer fashionable or because the companies that made them no longer exist. This is a problem for the hobby, partly because old games often quickly become “collector’s items” which keeps them out of the hands of people who would otherwise enjoy playing them; and partly because intellectual property and copyright laws often prevent fans from providing support for a game that the original publisher is unable or unwilling to support themselves.
This is where “retro-clones” come in.
Retro-clones are designed to fill two functions. Firstly they allow new people to have the experience of playing the old game even though it is long out-of-print and may be hard to get hold of; and secondly, they allow fans of the old game who wish to continue to support it now that the company that produced it no longer does (but who cannot legally produce material that is explicitly for the game) to produce material that is instead designed for use with the retro-clone of the game, knowing that it will also be compatible (with some minor changes in terminology) with the old game.
There are two legal principles that such retro-clones rely on. Firstly, in Europe and America, it is not possible to copyright the game mechanics of a game. However, it is possible to copyright the “artistic presentation” of those game mechanics – i.e. the way they are described and the specific terminology they use. Therefore, using the same principle as “reverse engineering” a piece of technology, it is possible to produce a new game in which the rules are identical to those of an existing game, but in which those rules are presented in a completely new manner that does not infringe on the artistic presentation used in that existing game. Secondly, Wizards of the Coast have published a System Reference Document (or SRD) under a license called the Open Game License (or OGL). This game license allows anyone to use the rules—and more importantly the terminology—of the SRD in their own games and game supplements, providing that those games and/or supplements are themselves released at least partly under the OGL.
Without the first of those principles, a game released under the OGL would have to either copy the SRD mechanics or have wholly original mechanics. Without the second principle, a game released with mechanics similar to an out-of-print game would have to have completely new and unfamiliar terminology. However, when both principles are put together, a retro-clone can be produced that combines the familiar mechanics of an out of print non-OGL game with the familiar terminology of the SRD. Dark Dungeons is such a retro-clone. The terminology used in this game is taken from the SRD via the terms of the OGL, and the game mechanics of the game very closely match the game mechanics of a specific out-of-print version of the world’s most popular role-playing game. However, to avoid issues with trademark and copyright laws, that game is not mentioned by name within either this site or the game book and no specific compatibility or endorsement with it or with any other existing role-playing game is claimed.
To point out the obvious, Dark Dungeons is a Retroclone of D&D BECMI/Rules Cyclopedia. Now this has put some dangerous thoughts in my head.
The first question is: Is this legal? (And does anybody care)
The second question is: Can this be applied to some other game we all know and love?