On Fri, 4 Apr 1997, Russ Perry Jr wrote:
> 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.
I realize that's typically the case. I'm more wondering if there were any
"strays" that companies either never bought from independent developers,
or reverted to the author's ownership after a certain period of time.
> 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.
Yep, that only makes things worse...
> 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? :)
Oh, not anyone in particular... but with rare and exotic games "floating"
around like Ewok Adventure, Saving Mary, Cubicolor, Wizard, etc. (not that
I have carts or binaries for any of these, mind you), I'm just wondering
if the rights are still tied up with parent companies, or if they have
reverted to be the property of the authors. The question I'm asking is,
"Could these games be published again?" without a massive legal
undertaking.
Related question: does Telegames own full rights to the games they
publish for the 2600, or are they "licensed" from other companies? I've
always wondered how they were able to print so many of the 2600 games.
Thanks,
Carl Forhan <><
Vindicator Online: http://www.millcomm.com/~forhan/vindicator.html
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