>how many of the original 2600 games (as opposed to the newer games created
>within the last yaer or two) are currently owned by their authors? Any?
Keep in mind that I'm NOT an expert in these matters, but generally speaking,
most games were created by companies' employees, which would make them "work
for hire", which means the companies own the copyrights.
There were cases where people designed games and took them to the companies.
In these cases, it might be that the author holds copyrights, but it's not
likely. I would think the companies would prefer to buy the games lock,
stock and barrel rather than just buy permission for a while. The only
cases where the author would own copyrights to their games would be if they
designed them independently and sold only USAGE rights to the companies
rather than OWNERSHIP rights; or where they might have bought rights back
from a company.
>Or are you always stuck going back to a parent company to negotiate the
>rights for a game, like with the SuperCharger CD?
That seems to be the case, only it's not always even that simple, as the
parent company may have disappeared/changed or sold the rights to someone
else.
>Just curious if any older games could be easily republished with the
>author's consent...
Well, legally speaking, it seems unlikely. But if we're talking the sort
of multicart/BINs underground, then you need only get a hold of it. Just
remember that that route is not really legal, and, as unlikely as it may
be to happen, there are potential legal consequences.
So, Carl, anyone particular in mind? :)
//*================================================================++
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|| 414-232-8246 slapdash@xxxxxxxxxx VIDEOGAME COLLECTOR! ||
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