What stat is GLE?

That they, artistically speaking, would want to distance themselves from the stats of any particular game, is understandable.

However, they would not get sued for copyright infringment if they had used "Charisma," or whatever. Wizards does not own a copyright on a word. They own the copyrights on written text describing character generation rules (but not terms denoting real attributes) and places and creatures that are completely unique in name to D&D.

However, they do not own Strength, Dexterity, Wisdom, etc. Nor skill names like Spot or Listen. Anybody can use those because they name attributes and skills and simple abilities of real human beings. It would be the same as if they had tried to copyright "person," or "entity," or "character."

They cannot. They have not.

Plenty of other RPGs use Strength, for instance. In fact, MOST RPGs use Strength. Because real human beings possess strength and because it is the actual word for an actual attribute, it is completely within the public domain.

Likewise, there are words that first came through D&D that are long-since so heavily used that they are in the PD. For instance, "hit points." I am not sure that wargames used the term in publishing before D&D was first published. However, it is painfully obvious that D&D popularized it. It is also very much too late for anybody to enforce a copyright against it. It has been used in countless RPGs and video games for over thirty years now, and if you want to use it in one you are making, you can go right ahead.

Finally, many of the terms used in D&D that sound unique to it, are actually not, and are borrowed from other sources also in the public domain. The concepts of Law and Chaos as forces in the game world comes from the stories of Elric of Melnibone, by Michael Moorcock. But because they are also real words and because they figure into various Eastern philosophies, it is impossible to sue the publishers of the game for any infringement. The term psionic is prevalent in the game, but it comes down through comic books and was invented by a psychologist in the early 20th Century. Griffons, pegasi and zombies, are likewise (and obviously) not copyrightable. And even the look of something - for instance, a squid-headed humanoid - though it may appear as a type of creature in the game, is not copyrightable. Only the name of it, and the story behind its creation, is, so long as neither is already in the public domain.

On a side note: Dead Gentlemen have the go ahead to not worry about it. While smart to make sure that were not copywriting and be on the safe side, I think there's no fear with the new film.

Plus, Monte Cook is in Dorkness Rising. ^_^