Comment on One Of The Best Games Ever Turns 25, And You Still Can't Buy It

• CaptainBlinky@lemmy.myserv.one ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

  Not really. There’s a lot of abandonware where the IP holders still pull out the lawyers.

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  • theangriestbird@beehaw.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    ehhh i hear you, “abandonware” can be defined as “software which is no longer supported or updated”, but that is a very broad definition. I think one could also define abandonware as “software which is no longer supported or updated, and which has no clear IP owner anymore”, and I think that that is the colloquial definition for a lot of people. I think we need a new word for one of these two definitions.

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    • Malgas@beehaw.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

      I propose “orphanware” for that subset of abandonware that has no clear owner.

      Consistent with the broader term “orphan work”.

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    • CaptainBlinky@lemmy.myserv.one ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

      Fair point. I think there needs to be a legal definition of IP’s that no longer have a claimant and therefore go public domain by default. If nobody can show ownership then nobody owns it.

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      • theangriestbird@beehaw.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

        lord, if only we lived in a world where things made sense…

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