Back in July, Paizo Inc. replaced their Community Use policy with a new Fan Content policy. This was a controversial move since it drastically altered and restricted what players and creators could do with fan-created Pathfinder material. Paizo is now taking steps to walking back this policy, including reinstating the original Community Use Policy.
The Paizo Fan Content Walk Back
In an official blog post, Paizo announced they would be making changes to their Fan Content policy while reinstating their original Community Use Policy. In addition, updates and clarifications will be implemented, making the policies easier to parse.
For those unaware, Paizo’s original Community Use policy was in place for over 15 years. In broad terms it allowed players to create original content for Pathfinder and Starfinder. The only catch was you couldn’t charge for access. This was a boon for fan projects since it permitted the use of named characters and locations.
A version of this policy was also in effect for different Pathfinder 2e materials. This included Foundry VTT support
With Paizo shifting to the ORC license, the company implemented their Fan Content policy. This was a more restrictive policy since it required creators to remove setting specific characters and terms to comply with the ORC and limited the publishing of work to approved platforms like Roll20 or Pathfinder Infinite.
The post further details the policy changes coming with the Fan Content and Community Use policies. First, the Approved Products List and Community Use Registry have been removed. For the latter, you must include contact information on your product.
With these changes, fans can still monetize their creations through the Fan Content policy, just with the freedoms permitted under the Community Use policy. Paizo has confirmed they will be refining these policies to clearly define what commercial uses of their products are allowed.
The post concludes with Paizo apologizing to the community for their misstep with these policies, promising to inform the community as soon as these revised policies go into effect.
