After weeks of consideration, Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) publishers have decided to do away with proposed changes to scrap derivative NFT projects. However, the decision appears forced as they faced much backlash from the tabletop gaming community.
On January 13, Wizards of the Coast, the entity behind D&D, announced that they intended to modify the legal framework that has allowed content creators to produce content compatible with D&D for the past 20 years.
The entity offered three reasons why they intended to modify the Open Game License (OGL). One of them was to address Web3 developers. “We wanted to address those attempting to use D&D in Web3, blockchain games, and NFTs.”
This would effectively stop creators from benefiting from the creation of derivative Web3 content such as NFTs. But this didn’t sit well with fans and content creators who made their voices heard online. Over 15,000 individuals took the D&D survey on the issue, and an overwhelming majority were in support of the creative commons license, which freed content for any use.
Based on the feedback, the entity has decided to abandon its plan to update its OGL. Also, the D&D content would be placed under its System Reference Document under a Creative Commons license that will be “open and irrevocable.”
Dungeons & Dragons Publishers Made Their Intentions Clear In 2022
Wizard of the Coast initially made their intentions to update the long-standing OGL last year. Up until that time, fans and other entities were able to create and sell derivative works inspired by the tabletop games. However, to protect their intellectual property from being exploited by large businesses and third parties to mint D&D-inspired NFTs, they felt the need to update their Open Game License.
In a blog post last December, the entity made it clear that the “OGL needs an update to ensure that it keeps doing what it was intended to do—allow the D&D community’s independent creators to build and play and grow the game we all love—without allowing things like third-parties to mint D&D NFTs and large businesses to exploit our intellectual property,”
Source NFT Plazas
