Paizo Releases Final ORC License
Paizo and Azora Law have revealed the finalized version of the ORC License. Along with Answers and Explanations, the time of the ORC is here.
Things have been progressing rapidly for the ORC License. In the wake of WotC’s OGL debacle, which happened not long before it came out that the company also hired notorious mercenaries and Wild West villains, the Pinkertons to go after unreleased cards, Paizo and a host of other tabletop publishers came together to develop the Open RPG Creative License.
Now, after multiple rounds of feedback and community input, it looks like the final version is here. At least for now. It can always be updated, but once a version is in play, it remains in play. Here’s a look at the announcement!
Paizo Releases Final ORC License
After months of collaborative work, we are pleased to present the final version of the Open RPG Creative (ORC) License! The license is a system-agnostic, perpetual, and irrevocable open gaming license that provides a legal “safe harbor” for sharing rules mechanics so as to encourage collaboration and innovation in the tabletop-gaming space. After much commentary and iteration, the ORC License and accompanying ORC AxE (Answers and Explanations) document are now final and ready to be used by game publishers large and small.
The final text of the ORC License has been submitted to the Library of Congress and formally published on the website of Azora Law, the legal firm that conceived of and drafted it. All currently posted versions of the final ORC License text should be considered the Interim Final ORC License and ORC AxE. As soon as copyright registration is finalized, these documents will be updated with the final copyright registration number, which we expect will be ready in about six months. In the meantime, publishers are free to begin using the ORC License right now. No other elements of this document will be changing in the future.
Azora Law Managing Partner Brian Lewis and representatives from Paizo, Chaosium, and other publishers will be offering a panel on the ORC License at the upcoming Gen Con Indy 2023 in early August, where we will answer questions about the license and give suggestions on how best to use it.
Check out the ORC AxE (Answers and Explanations)
What do you think of the new license? Would you consider using it?
