Editing D20 System (section)

== Trademark license ==<!-- This section is linked from [[Dungeons & Dragons]] -->
Because ''Dungeons & Dragons'' is the most popular role-playing game in the world,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Waters |first=Darren |date=26 April 2004 |title=What happened to ''Dungeons & Dragons''? |work=[[BBC News Online]] |publisher=[[BBC]] |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3655627.stm |access-date=2 June 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Svensson |first=Peter |date=21 July 2008 |title=''Dungeons & Dragons'' Reborn |work=Buffalo News |publisher=[[Associated Newspapers]] |agency=[[Associated Press]] |url=http://www.buffalonews.com/185/story/396318.html |access-date=2 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090321165705/http://www.buffalonews.com/185/story/396318.html |archive-date=21 March 2009}}</ref> many third-party publishers of the 2000s produced products designed to be compatible with that game and its cousin, d20 Modern. Wizards of the Coast provided a separate license allowing publishers to use some of its trademarked terms and a distinctive logo to help consumers identify these products. This was known as the '''d20 System Trademark License''' (d20STL).

The d20STL required publishers to exclude character-creation and advancement rules, apply certain notices, and adhere to an acceptable content policy. D20STL products were also required to clearly state that they require the core books from Wizards of the Coast for use. All d20STL products also had to use the OGL to make use of d20 System open content. However, products that only use the OGL are not bound by these restrictions; thus publishers were able to use the OGL without using the d20STL, and by including their own character-creation and advancement rules allow them to function as complete standalone games.

With the release of the 4th edition of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' in 2008, Wizards of the Coast revoked the original d20STL, replacing it with a new license specifically for D&D, known as the [[Game System License]]. The terms of this license are similar to the d20STL, but there is no associated OGL or Open Content, and the 4th-edition SRD merely lists the items and terms which may be used in licensed products.<ref name="4egslfaq">{{Cite web |title=Fourth Edition GSL FAQ |url=http://www.wizards.com/d20/files/4e_gsl_faq.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090306105933/http://www.wizards.com/d20/files/4E_GSL_FAQ.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 6, 2009 |access-date=3 October 2012 |website=Wizards.com |publisher=Wizards of the Coast}}</ref> This did not affect the legal standing of the OGL, and products based on the SRD may still be released under the OGL alone.