> Copyright does not protect the idea for a game, its name or title, or the method or methods for playing it. Nor does copyright protect any idea, system, method, device, or trademark material involved in developing, merchandising, or playing a game. Once a game has been made public, nothing in the copyright law prevents others from developing another game based on similar principles. Copyright protects only the particular manner of an author’s expression in literary, artistic, or musical form.
So calling it "Open Source" is misleading, I think.
I feel the term Open Source in this context refers to open sharing of closed (proprietary rather than copyrighted) information, not specific copyright/patent-free work. Game mechanics may not be copyrightable, but the reasoning behind them/supporting research/metrics/design patterns can all be behind closed doors.
I applaud the idea, but perhaps there is a better term?
You have that backwards. You can't patent a game or game materials (these can be copyrighted or trademarked or both), but you could patent game mechanics b/c they were "processes" which were patentable under the Federal Circuit's non-existent standard for patentability. In fact, several game mechanics have been patented.
Whether those patents remain valid is another question entirely. In 2007, the Supreme Court struck down the ridiculously low bar for patenting business methods and software processes, which includes most game-related patents.
> Copyright does not protect the idea for a game, its name or title, or the method or methods for playing it. Nor does copyright protect any idea, system, method, device, or trademark material involved in developing, merchandising, or playing a game. Once a game has been made public, nothing in the copyright law prevents others from developing another game based on similar principles. Copyright protects only the particular manner of an author’s expression in literary, artistic, or musical form.
So calling it "Open Source" is misleading, I think.