Manually enter the data or wait for Content Market

[joepacelli]

So if I create my World in RW and I spend the time to enter Bestiary's 1-6, along with other source books. And then I export my world, can I freely give this to someone else or do I need to strip all Paizo, and other 3rd party content from the Realm before freely giving it away?

I truly understand the power of RW from a gaming perspective helping me. But if 2 years later another player in the group says he was to be the GM and run a campaign in Pathfinder Inner Sea World. But would I need to ask if he owns all the source books I used in my Realm before giving them the exported file?

[daplunk]

Personally I just let the other members of my table DM using my copy of Realm Works. There are two other guys about to start DMing and they are getting their own copies, and I'm sure there is an official answer and then there's what happens between a closed gaming group.

[Silveras]

Originally Posted by Farling

I think Bestiary 6 is also listed as PFRPG rather than OGL on the paizo web site.

The early Paizo materials would be listed as "[Title] (OGL)" to advertise that they were D&D 3.5 compatible. The entirety of the Pathfinder RPG is published under the OGL to make 100% of the rules content publicly available. "[Title] (PFRPG)" is now used to specifically indicate that the Pathfinder RPG has become its own thing.. it is still "backwards compatible" with D&D 3.5, but that has less and less meaning as time goes by and it develops in its own way. As a legal matter, it is still an Open Game License product.

Bestiary 6 has the same declarations as Bestiary 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 ... which is part of why I picked Bestiary 4 for my example. They're identical, so it doesn't matter which specifically you use as an example.

[Silveras]

Originally Posted by joepacelli

So if I create my World in RW and I spend the time to enter Bestiary's 1-6, along with other source books. And then I export my world, can I freely give this to someone else or do I need to strip all Paizo, and other 3rd party content from the Realm before freely giving it away?

I truly understand the power of RW from a gaming perspective helping me. But if 2 years later another player in the group says he was to be the GM and run a campaign in Pathfinder Inner Sea World. But would I need to ask if he owns all the source books I used in my Realm before giving them the exported file?

Anything you create yourself is yours to do with as you will.
Anything you copy from someone else... especially a published work.. belongs to THEM, and can only be used in the ways they have given permission.

So, technically, yes, before giving a copy of "your world" to someone else, you should be stripping out everything you did not personally create unless you also have something to indicate permission to re-use their content.

The Open Game License is a set of those permissions. It does not cover world-specific names, places, and events. So, pretty much all of the non-mechanics content from the Inner Sea World Guide is "Product Identity" or protected content -- NOT allowed to be shared. Even the names of some Feats, Traits, Prestige Classes, and Spells may be protected content (which is why sites like d20pfsrd MUST use replacement names for them).

Paizo also has a Community Use Policy (CUP) that allows some content to be used in limited ways (which is why sites like the Archives of Nethys can use the protected names that d20pfsrd cannot use).

If you export a copy and give it to a friend, technically you're pirating the contents you are not permitted to distribute (1 copy or 1 million.. once you give it away, you're distributing it; the numbers are just a matter of scale). Is that something you're going to be hunted down for? No, not at all likely. But if you put it somewhere that lots of people can at it.. that's a bigger deal and could lead to court.

[ErinRigh]

Originally Posted by joepacelli

So if I create my World in RW and I spend the time to enter Bestiary's 1-6, along with other source books. And then I export my world, can I freely give this to someone else or do I need to strip all Paizo, and other 3rd party content from the Realm before freely giving it away?

I truly understand the power of RW from a gaming perspective helping me. But if 2 years later another player in the group says he was to be the GM and run a campaign in Pathfinder Inner Sea World. But would I need to ask if he owns all the source books I used in my Realm before giving them the exported file?

I believe that "legally" no you can't share your realm with copywrited material in it's entirety, with your buddy, but I HIGHLY doubt, Paizo or LWD is going to kick down your door and seize your 'puter, for giving your realm to your buddy for personal gaming.

If you SOLD it to him, that might be a different story

[joepacelli]

But if they also own all the source books within my Realm I would assume then it's perfectly legal to share my Realm with them, correct?

[Parody]

Generally, no. Unless the original publisher has given you the right to redistribute their copyrighted text in a modified form you cannot give it to anyone, regardless of whether or not they have a copy in a different form as well.

Realistically, if you aren't sharing it outside of your group nobody's going to care.

If you want a full breakdown, however, you should be consulting a lawyer well-versed in intellectual property law rather than some folks on the Internet. :)

[ErinRigh]

Originally Posted by Parody

Generally, no. Unless the original publisher has given you the right to redistribute their copyrighted text in a modified form you cannot give it to anyone, regardless of whether or not they have a copy in a different form as well.

Realistically, if you aren't sharing it outside of your group nobody's going to care.

If you want a full breakdown, however, you should be consulting a lawyer well-versed in intellectual property law rather than some folks on the Internet. :)

Parody is right. In Canada, everybody is entitled to a half-hour legal advice from a lawyer, though I have no idea about elsewhere. You really should consult a lawyer if you plan do distribute it, especially if you are using net public forums, but if you just plan to slip a copy to your mates on a thumb drive, nobody will know or care. On the other hand, if your mate shares it you could be screwed. Ultimately, if you don't trust your mates not to put it on Piratebay, don't give it to them, but for personal use, it is sort of like...who cares. (WotC maybe)