How to Legally Publish Your RPG Content, Interview with Attorney Noah Downs | The Goblins and Growlers Podcast

How to Legally Publish Your TTRPG Content

Episode Introduction

We’re joined by guest Noah Downs (he’s a lawyer, but he’s a cool lawyer) to talk about OGLs and SRDs, the alphabet soups of publishing tabletop role-playing game content. Noah tells us about how Wizards of the Coast’s Open Gaming License works and how you can use the Fifth Edition System Reference Document to legally create content you can publish and monetize. We also discuss fan-content policies for podcasts and copyright and trademark basics.

About Noah: Noah Downs (@MyLawyerFriend) is an experienced gaming, entertainment, and intellectual property attorney at Premack Rogers P.C.. He is also a part-time GM on Twitch, and is the GM/Lead Writer for the Forgotten Paths D&D 5E Live-Play Podcast. You can find Noah on Twitch, Twitter, and TikTok at @MyLawyerFriend, and you can find the Forgotten Paths Podcast on your favorite podcatcher, or by following @paths_forgotten on Twitter.

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Topics

• Noah’s disclaimer. He’s a lawyer, but not your lawyer, so everything he says here is not to be construed as legal advice and is strictly for informational purposes. Basically, talk to a lawyer. (1:30).

• What exactly is the Open Gaming License and how does it work? What’s allowable under it and what isn’t? (3:00)

• What is the System Reference Document? (6:15)

• What is a derivative work? (8:28)

• Best practices to stay compliant with the OGL? (9:48)

• Protecting your own product identity. (11:15)

• “Fair Use” triggers all lawyers (14:00)

• What are trademark and copyright? (19:50)

• Public domain (27:20)

• Using content in public games (28:50)

• More on OGL/SRD compliance (32:20)

• Fan-content policies for actual-play podcasts (36:00)

Additional Resources

• Fifth Edition System Reference Document: https://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/systems-reference-document-srd

• Quick Reference Site for the SRD: https://www.5esrd.com/

• Wizards of the Coast’s Fan-Content Policy: https://company.wizards.com/en/legal/fancontentpolicy

• Quick overview of OGL/SRD: https://www.thearcanelibrary.com/blogs/news/how-to-use-the-open-game-license

• Noah’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/mylawyerfriend

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The Goblins and Growlers Podcast is produced by Goblins and Growlers, a Richmond, Virginia-based tabletop-roleplaying-game content and events company dedicated to inclusivity through TTRPGs.