Paizo, along with a group of over 1,500 tabletop RPG publishers, have announced the completion of the first public draft of the Open RPG Creative (ORC) license. The ORC license is a system-agnostic, perpetual, irrevocable open gaming license that provides a legal “safe harbor” for sharing rules mechanics and encourages collaboration and innovation in the tabletop gaming space.
The ORC license is not explicitly a Paizo license, but is intended for the common use of the entire games industry, across a wide variety of games and platforms. Paizo has been working closely with Azora Law, an intellectual property law firm that works with Paizo and several other game publishers, to develop and refine a working draft of the ORC license for public discussion and refinement.
Individual publishers are invited to provide feedback on the official ORC License Project Discord, with the aim of refining the license and adding to the FAQ based on public feedback provided on the official Discord. Azora will be soliciting commentary and feedback through that platform until Friday, April 21, at which point they will incorporate that feedback and release another public draft. If additional rounds of public commentary are required, the process will continue until the license is complete and meets the needs of the majority of participating publishers. The aim is to complete the entire process by the end of April if possible.
The ORC license is a significant step forward for the tabletop RPG industry, as it provides a clear legal framework for sharing rules mechanics and encourages collaboration and innovation. The ORC license is intended to be a platform-agnostic, open-source license that will allow developers to create their own games using existing game mechanics without fear of legal repercussions.
Overall, the ORC license is an exciting development for the tabletop RPG industry, and we look forward to seeing the final version of the license and the innovative games that it will inspire.
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