This introductory guide outlines what you can and cannot do with the Land of Eem TTRPG Open License and the requirements for using it. It is not intended to and does not overwrite, add to, or change the license (which is found in “General Terms of the LOEL” below).
Last Note: The text of the Land Of Eem TTRPG Open License (“LOEL”) itself is not Land of Eem SRD (as herein defined). The LOEL is the property of Ben Costa and James Parks and is Copyright 2025 Ben Costa and James Parks (together with their agents, successors, and assigns, the "Licensor"). All Rights Reserved.
Version 1.0
The text of the Land Of Eem TTRPG Open License (“LOEL”) itself is not Land of Eem SRD (as herein defined). The LOEL is the property of Ben Costa and James Parks and is Copyright 2025 Ben Costa and James Parks (together with their agents, successors, and assigns, the "Licensor"). All Rights Reserved.
General Terms of the LOEL
1. Definitions:
a. "Licensor" means the intellectual property owners who have contributed to the Land of Eem SRD;
b. "Derivative Material" means copyrighted material, including derivative works, localizations, porting, translations (including into programming languages), modifications, corrections, additions, extensions, upgrades, improvements, compilations, abridged versions, or other form in which an existing work may be recast, transformed, repackaged, or adapted;
c. "Distribute" means to circulate or disseminate material through licensure, reproduction, rental, lease, sale, broadcast, public display, transmission, or other method of transfer or dispersal.
d. "Land of Eem SRD" means the Land of Eem Systems Reference Document, as added to, updated, and amended from time to time, and includes the methods, procedures, processes, and routines to the extent such content:
i. does not include the Original Publication Content (as defined herein); and
ii. is an enhancement over the prior-created works and any additional content clearly identified as Original Publication Content by a Licensor.
Land of Eem SRD further means any work covered by the LOEL, including translations and Derivative Material under copyright law, but specifically excludes Original Publication Content.
e. "Original Publication Content" means Licensor’s product and product line names, logos, and identifying marks, including trade dress, artifacts, creatures, characters, stories, storylines, plots, thematic elements, dialogue, incidents, language, artwork, symbols, designs, depictions, likenesses, formats, poses, concepts, themes and graphic, photographic and other visual or audio representations; names and descriptions of characters, spells, enchantments, personalities, teams, personas, likenesses and special abilities; places, locations, environments, equipment, magical or supernatural abilities or effects, logos, symbols, or graphic designs; and any other trademark or registered trademark clearly identified as Original Publication Content by the owner of the Original Publication Content, and which specifically excludes the Land of Eem SRD.
f. “Third-Party Publication Content” means Yours or third-party’s product and product line names, logos and identifying marks, including trade dress, artifacts, creatures, characters, stories, storylines, plots, thematic elements, dialogue, incidents, language, artwork, symbols, designs, depictions, likenesses, formats, poses, concepts, themes and graphic, photographic and other visual or audio representations; names and descriptions of characters, spells, enchantments, personalities, teams, personas, likenesses and special abilities; places, locations, environments, equipment, magical or supernatural abilities or effects, logos, symbols, or graphic designs; and any other trademark or registered trademark clearly identified as Third-Party Publication Content by the owner of the Third-Party Publication Content, and which specifically excludes the Original Publication Content;
g. "Trademark" means the logos, names, mark, sign, motto, designs, sounds, patterns, smells, and/or phrases that are used by a Collaborator to identify itself or its products or the associated products contributed to the LOEL by the Collaborator, whether registered or unregistered.
h. “Use" (and forms thereof) means using, distributing, copying, editing, formatting, modifying, translating, and otherwise creating Derivative Material from the Land of Eem SRD.
i. “You” and “Your” means the licensee in terms of this agreement.
2. Application of Terms: The LOEL applies to any Use of Land of Eem SRD, regardless of whether that Use contains a proper notice indicating that the Use is produced hereunder. No terms may be added to or subtracted from the LOEL except as described by the LOEL itself. No other terms or conditions may be applied to any Third-Party Publication Content distributed using the LOEL and Land of Eem SRD.
3. Affixation Requirement: As a material obligation under the LOEL, you must affix a legible, complete copy of the LOEL and the Land of Eem Compatible logo to any Use of the Land of Eem SRD and clearly and conspicuously include the Copyright Notice detailed in Section 8 in all appropriate locations.
4. Acceptance of License: By Using the Land of Eem SRD, You indicate Your acceptance of the terms of the LOEL and agree to strictly adhere to the same.
5. Grant and Consideration: In consideration for agreeing to use the LOEL pursuant to Section 4, the Licensors grant You a perpetual, irrevocable (except as otherwise provided herein) worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license to Use the Land of Eem SRD.
6. Representations and Warranties: If You are contributing original material as Third-Party Publication Content, You represent and warrant that Your Contributions are Your original creation and/or You have sufficient rights to grant the rights conveyed by the LOEL. You further represent and warrant that: 1) You will not engage or participate in any activity or course of action that could diminish or tarnish the image or reputation of the Original Publication Content, Land of Eem SRD or Licensors, or cause confusion as to the ownership of the LOEL, Land of Eem SRD, or Original Publication Content; and 2) Your Use of the Land of Eem SRD will not infringe, misappropriate, or otherwise violate the intellectual property or other rights of any third party or violate any applicable regulation or law.
7. Disclaimer: MANY CENTURIES AGO, OLD MEN IN POWDERED WIGS AND BLACK ROBES DECIDED IT WOULD BE COOL TO TYPE IN ALL CAPS FOR IMPORTANT SECTIONS OF DOCUMENTS SUCH AS WARRANTY SECTIONS SO IT’S “CONSPICUOUS,” EVEN THOUGH ALL SECTIONS ARE IMPORTANT OR ELSE WE WOULDN’T INCLUDE THEM IN THIS AGREEMENT. ANYWAY, WE DECIDED TO FOLLOW THE TRADITION AND TYPE LIKE WE’RE YELLING AT YOU, BUT WE’RE NOT ACTUALLY YELLING AT YOU. PLEASE DON’T TAKE THIS THE WRONG WAY: LICENSOR MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES AS TO THE MERCHANTABILITY OF THE LAND OF EEM SRD OR FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE. YOU AGREE THAT YOU ARE RELEASING LICENSOR FROM ANY LIABILITY THAT LICENSOR MAY OTHERWISE HAVE TO YOU IN RELATION TO OR ARISING FROM THE LOEL OR LICENSORS SERVICES, FOR REASONS INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, FAILURE OF OUR SERVICE, NEGLIGENCE, OR ANY OTHER TORT. TO THE EXTENT THAT APPLICABLE LAW RESTRICTS THIS RELEASE OF LIABILITY, YOU AGREE THAT LICENSOR IS ONLY LIABLE TO YOU FOR THE MINIMUM AMOUNT OF DAMAGES THAT THE LAW RESTRICTS LICENSOR’S LIABILITY TO, IF SUCH A MINIMUM EXISTS. YOU AGREE THAT LICENSOR IS NOT RESPONSIBLE IN ANY WAY FOR DAMAGES CAUSED BY THIRD PARTIES WHO MAY USE THE LAND OF EEM SRD, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO PEOPLE WHO COMMIT INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY INFRINGEMENT, DEFAMATION, TORTIOUS INTERFERENCE WITH ECONOMIC RELATIONS, OR ANY OTHER ACTIONABLE CONDUCT TOWARDS YOU. ADDITIONALLY, LICENSOR SHALL NOT BE HELD LIABLE FOR ANY UNINTENTIONAL SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THE LAND OF EEM SRD, ORIGINAL PUBLICATION CONTENT, OR DERIVATIVE WORKS AND THIRD-PARTY PUBLICATION CONTENT. ANY PERCEIVED SIMILARITY IS PURELY COINCIDENTAL AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A BREACH OF THE LOEL. LICENSEE SHALL INDEMNIFY AND HOLD LICENSOR HARMLESS FROM CLAIMS OR DAMAGES ARISING FROM SUCH SIMILARITIES.
8. Copyright Notice: You must update the Copyright Notice portion of the LOEL to include the then-current version of the Copyright Notice of any Third-Party Publication Content You are copying, modifying or distributing, including the title, the copyright date, and the Licensor's name:
a. This work was created using the Land Of Eem TTRPG Open License.
b. Land Of Eem TTRPG Open License, v.1.0 Copyright 2025, Ben Costa and James Parks.
You further agree to include clear and conspicuous notices stating “Compatible with Land Of Eem” and to affix the Land of Eem Compatible Logo to the cover.
9. Use of Original Publication Content: You agree not to Use any Original Publication Content, including as an indication as to compatibility, except as expressly licensed in another, independent Agreement with the owner of each element of that Original Publication Content. You agree not to indicate compatibility or co-adaptability with any trademark (registered or unregistered) in conjunction with a work containing Original Publication Content except as expressly licensed in another, independent Agreement with the owner of such trademark. Your Use of any Original Publication Content in Your Third-Party Publication Content does and may not constitute a challenge to the ownership of that Third-Party Publication Content, and all goodwill associated therewith shall accrue to the benefit of the owner of such Original Publication Content.
10. Identification: If you distribute Third-Party Publication Content You must clearly indicate which portions of the work that you are distributing are from the Land of Eem SRD.
11. Updating the LOEL: Licensor may publish updated versions of the LOEL. You may use any authorized version of the LOEL to copy, modify and distribute Third-Party Publication Content originally distributed under any that version of the LOEL.
12. Limited Revocation Right: In the event that You engage or participate in any activity or course of action that could diminish or tarnish the image or reputation of the Original Publication Content (or Licensor), or cause confusion as to the ownership of the LOEL, Original Publication Content, or Land of Eem SRD (in each case, as determined by Licensor in its sole and absolute good-faith discretion), Licensor may revoke any rights granted to You (including Your right to Use the Land of Eem SRD) and require you to remove all Uses and of the Land of Eem SRD, without any liability to you under any form or theory of law. If You, together with your affiliates, subsidiaries, parent companies, or such similar affiliated entities either a) generate annual revenues exceeding $10 million, or b) employ more than 500 employees, You are required to enter into a separate enterprise license agreement with the Licensor.
13. Use of Licensor Credits: You may not market or advertise the Third-Party Publication Content using the name of any Licensor unless You have written permission from the Licensor to do so.
14. Termination: The LOEL will terminate automatically if You fail to comply with all terms herein and fail to cure such breach within thirty (30) days of becoming aware of the breach. All validly issued sublicenses shall survive the termination of the LOEL.
15. Miscellaneous Terms: The LOEL is intended to be construed without regard to any presumption or rule requiring construction or interpretation against the party drafting an instrument or causing any instrument to be drafted. If any term or provision of the LOEL is invalid, illegal, or unenforceable in any jurisdiction, such invalidity, illegality, or unenforceability will not affect the enforceability of any other term or provision of the LOEL, or invalidate or render unenforceable such term or provision in any other jurisdiction. Licensor may freely assign or otherwise transfer any of its rights or delegate any of its obligations under the LOEL. This Agreement is binding upon You (and Your successors and assignees) and inures to the benefit of the Licensor. The LOEL and all matters arising out of or relating to this Agreement are governed by the laws of State of California, without giving effect to any conflict of laws provisions thereof that would result in the application of the laws of a different jurisdiction. Either party shall institute any legal suit, action, or proceeding arising out of or relating to the LOEL in the federal or state courts in each case located in the City of San Francisco, California, and each party irrevocably submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of such courts in any legal suit, action, or proceeding. The relationship between the parties is that of independent contractors. Nothing contained in the LOEL will be construed as creating any agency, partnership, joint venture, or other form of joint enterprise, employment, or fiduciary relationship between the parties, and neither party has authority to contract for nor bind the other party in any manner whatsoever. No waiver by Licensor of any of the provisions hereof will be effective unless explicitly set forth in writing and signed by Licensor. Except as otherwise set forth in the LOEL, no failure to exercise, or delay in exercising, any right, remedy, power, or privilege arising from the LOEL will operate or be construed as a waiver thereof; nor will any single or partial exercise of any right, remedy, power, or privilege hereunder preclude any other or further exercise thereof, or the exercise of any other right, remedy, power, or privilege. Licensor shall be entitled to recover its reasonable attorney’s fees arising from any claim, suit, action, or proceeding is instituted or commenced by any party hereto. If it is impossible for You to comply with any of the terms of the LOEL with respect to some or all of the Land of Eem SRD due to statute, judicial order, or governmental regulation then You may not Use any Land of Eem SRD so affected.
The LOEL is a license that lets you use the Land of Eem System Reference Document (SRD) to create and sell your own tabletop RPG content. Think of it as a way to build adventures, settings, and character options that work with Land of Eem—all while staying within the rules.
Nope! The LOEL applies as-is, so you can’t change, add, or remove anything from it. But you can add your own creative spin to the Land of Eem SRD in your projects!
No, the LOEL only covers the SRD. Any official Land of Eem storylines, lore, characters, settings (like the Mucklands or the Underlands) or game content not in the SRD are off-limits.
Not at all! You can stick with any authorized version of the LOEL that was in place when you released your work.
The Land of Eem SRD is available here!
Yep! Your work must include this copyright notice:
This work was created using the Land of Eem TTRPG Open License.
Land of Eem TTRPG Open License, v.1.0 Copyright 2025, Ben Costa and James Parks.
Nope! You can say it’s "Compatible with Land of Eem", but you can’t claim it’s officially endorsed or created by the Licensor.
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