[Wargamer] Pathfinder rolls back controversial license changes

Source: https://www.wargamer.com/pathfinder/license-changes-OGL-controversy
DnD’s top rival Pathfinder rolls back controversial license changes
Paizo, publisher of Dungeons and Dragons’ alter ego RPG Pathfinder, has retconned planned changes to its game licenses after fan feedback.
Alex Evans
Dungeons and Dragons Pathfinder Starfinder
Pathfinder and Starfinder RPG publisher Paizo has rescinded a planned change to its game license policies, after community members raised concerns about fan-made publications and game tools being disallowed due to copyright conflicts.
Paizo shared the decision in a blog statement on Thursday, telling fans: “In July, we terminated Paizo’s long-standing Community Use Policy (CUP) and replaced it with a new Fan Content Policy (FCP). This was an error, and we’re taking steps to rectify that today.”
The 15-year-old CUP had previously allowed fans to publish their tabletop roleplaying game projects using a wide variety of Paizo intellectual property (IP) however and wherever they liked, so long as they offered them for free, and followed a few minor rules and disclaimers.
But the FCP, announced and launched on July 22, changed that, permitting fans certain new rights to make money from their own physical merch creations using Paizo IP – but also preventing them from publishing RPG content (like rulebooks or adventure books) with Paizo lore in them, unless they did it on Paizo’s own, licensed ‘Infinite’ storefronts.
Paizo’s statement on Thursday, August 22 goes back on that by reinstating the CUP alongside the new FCP, meaning independent creators can continue publishing Pathfinder and Starfinder content using Paizo lore under the old rules, so long as it’s free – the FCP will only apply if you’re looking to profit off your work.
“We have not changed the permissions granted by the policy,” Paizo confirms in the statement – adding that “this change will allow existing Community Use Policy projects to continue to operate as they have for over a decade.”
And Paizo says it’s now working to ensure the FCP takes into account the various, complex issues that sprang up in the wake of the initial July 22 announcement: “With the Community Use Policy restored, we can refine the Fan Content Policy to more clearly define what commercial uses are allowed under what conditions and using which elements of our intellectual property.
“We will make our intended revisions and updates to the Fan Content Policy and let the community know when the new version is available.”
Paizo Director of Brand Strategy Mark Moreland has since posted on the blog that “We will be going into the FCP and making updates and revisions now that it no longer needs to do (most of) what the CUP does as well as the new things it does that the CUP never did.”
“Our priority was getting the CUP back up and in effect so that content creators didn’t have to worry about the fates of their existing projects,” he adds.
Paizo’s fans have known about the firm’s intention to bring all new fan-made ‘finder RPG publishing into its own Infinite storefronts for months, part of the firm’s campaign to divest itself and its games from Wizards of the Coast’s now infamous DnD Open Game License.
The recent controversy came about more because of the additional restrictions the plan placed on creators looking to keep publishing projects for the previous, first editions of Pathfinder and Starfinder, both of which include various materials still tied into the Dungeons and Dragons OGL.
In the initial July 22 announcement, Director of Brand Strategy Mark Moreland said that, while all existing content would remain on their platform, Infinite storefronts would no longer accept any new RPG products referencing the OGL, starting September 1 – including the majority of lore content from the first editions of both Pathfinder and Starfinder.
The apparent upshot? From September 1, fans would no longer be able to publish content for Pathfinder 1e or Starfinder 1e through Paizo’s official marketplace, and (unless it was just for “personal use”) they wouldn’t be legally allowed to publish them anywhere else, either – even for free – without breaching copyright.
And, without the CUP giving fans the right to publish their free Pathfinder 1e and Starfinder 1e-derived content on third party marketplaces like DriveThruRPG, the floodgates were opened for fans’ panicked questions on which parts of the older games’ lore belonged to Wizards under the OGL, which to Paizo, and which were original creations – as well as what would happen to any creator found in breach.
Three weeks of spirited debate and constant questioning ensued on Paizo’s forums, with Mark Moreland fielding dozens of inquiries about exactly which lore elements – down to individual terms and uses – would still be allowed, and how various popular game tools and add-ons published under the CUP would be affected.
Moreland also reiterated Paizo’s motives, posting on July 23 that “there are many reasons, but the primary one is that we do not want any new content using our IP to be associated with the OGL,” adding: “We have seen what can happen when the fate of our games (and to a lesser extent settings) and therefore our livelihoods are inextricably linked to another company’s IP.”
“Now that we have a complete game (comprised of the four Remaster core books) for Pathfinder Second Edition, and a complete game coming next year for Starfinder Second Edition, which we fully own, it is not in the best interest of our brands to continue entangling our IP with the OGL,” he said.
“If there are creators who want to keep doing so, they can use the OGL for their own releases the same as they always could, just not in a product or on a platform that uses our non-OGL IP.”
By July 25, the Paizo forum thread on the license change announcement had already seen over 200 comments, raising issues with the changes – including the potential impacts on translated versions of Pathfinder and Starfinder; integrations with virtual tabletops like FoundryVTT; and more. Moreland clarified in several posts that all these issues were being investigated and would be addressed in forthcoming FAQs for the new license.
But, after Gen Con in the first week of August (and several hundred more forum comments from worried fans) this translated into the decision to reinstate the CUP and further iterate the FCP instead – which has gained an immediate positive reaction from fans.
Whether Paizo intends to change its mind about continuing to support first edition Pathfinder and Starfinder content through its first-party Infinite storefront remains an open question, and is not mentioned in its August 22 statement.
If you’re not too familiar with Pathfinder, it’s essentially DnD’s crunchier, more rules-intensive cousin – originally released in 2009 as a kind of spin-off from Dungeons and Dragons 3.5e – read our Pathfinder vs. DnD guide for the full breakdown. For a bit more in-game detail, try our guides to the Pathfinder classes and Pathfinder races (a.k.a. Ancestries).
And, if you haven’t already, check out our exclusive first look at the upcoming, magic school-themed Pathfinder expansion, Lost Omens: Rival Academies.
Alex Evans Alex is the gaming omnivore, clumsy escapist, and award-winning nerd who’s captained the good ship Wargamer from its 2021 relaunch to now. He has a degree in Politics and a Master’s in International Journalism, but failed his cycling proficiency test twice. He speaks (mostly) fluent German, believes all things are political, and is tragically, hopelessly in love with Warhammer 40k.  When not pressing buttons at Wargamer HQ, you can often find him impatiently painting miniatures; half-finishing strategy board games against himself; or drinking lager in the bath with a Horus Heresy audiobook playing. Previously Chief Germanist for Green Man Gaming. DnD alignment: Lawful Good. He/Him.