Just in case you thought reviving dead games seemed easy enough, GOG had to hire a private investigator to find an IP holder living off the grid for its preservation program

Comments

• Rokin@leminal.space ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

  GOG is doing god’s work.

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  • majestic_flamingo23@lemmy.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

    I agree for the most part, now if they would only support linux natively…

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    • monogram@feddit.nl ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

      Heroic Games Launcher FTW

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    • miguel@fedia.io ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

      Linux support trails, mac support is nonexistant.

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  • Sina@beehaw.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

    This is arguable. There were countless free dos games out there in the common domain that GoG took down and made paid again.

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• atro_city@fedia.io ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

  I don't understand how these guys did not support Stop Killing Games. I seemed right up their alley and they didn't say a word about it.

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  • bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.de ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

    Not only that. They were actually working up to support it, together with their preservation program but then just dropped it for unknown reasons.

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    • Dave@lemmy.nz ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

      Is it possible they got an ultimatum by an important company they work with?

      E.g. imagine the damage Bethesda could do to GOG by refusing to allow their games on GOG any more.

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• UKFilmNerd@feddit.uk ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

  That reminds me of that old first person shooter, The Operative: No One Lives Forever.

  This is a game that had a following and people have asked for a remaster or even just a GOG release.

  The problem is, no one actually knows who owns it today. It’s a bit of a legal mess.

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  • Coelacanth@feddit.nu ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

    The upshot is that since nobody knows whether they own it or not there is nobody bothering to actively enforce copyright, so you can just download the games for free if you want on NOLFrevival.

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    • Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

      Such a fun game too.

      There also was a free add-on/extension (something) called Jack that was a short game.

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    • UKFilmNerd@feddit.uk ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

      I had no idea about this, thank you.

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    • DebatableRaccoon@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

      Worst case scenario, we quickly find out who owns it when someone pops up trying to claim their money.

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• SweetCitrusBuzz@beehaw.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

  That’s a good question though. What happens if a right’s holder dies and doesn’t transfer the rights to others? Are the rights then public domain or what?

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  • miguel@fedia.io ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

    After a set period of time, they expire. Life +50 to Life +90 or so, depending on country.

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    • vrighter@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

      unless you own mickey mouse, of course

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  • meldrik@lemmy.wtf ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

    I guess that depends on where you are in the world, but I’d imagine that the rights would be inherited by the closest family member? If not, it would probably go to the public domain.

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  • Kissaki@beehaw.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

    It may depend on the country and state, but with a lack of heirs, it likely goes to the state like all other possessions.

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• ICastFist@programming.dev ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

  Marcin Paczynski told The Game Business he could “write a book”

  Please do

  He didn’t even know that he owned the rights because this was just a package with his inheritance … we have a lot of stories like that.

  Wow, no wonder the dude wasn’t aware. “Oh, just a box with papers. Meh”

  stories like developers whose physical documentation of IP ownership was torched in a fire

  It’s always interesting to know which games’ rights might seem “completely lost”, just so we can 🏴‍☠️ in peace. Say, wasn’t this strategy something GOG did originally? Just sell and see if the current rights-holder shows up?

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• Geodad@beehaw.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

  I’m against the concept of intellectual property. Information should belong to the entirety of humanity.

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  • Dave@lemmy.nz ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

    So you post a selfie on Lemmy and the next thing you know, you’re the key subject in a new Facebook ad?

    I think we need some level of IP laws, but current copyright periods are way too long.

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    • SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

      papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=14361…

      Rufus Pollock’s math agrees. I am so bummed he recently took this down from his personal website where it had been available for 15 years

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• Kissaki@beehaw.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

  If you make a good effort to identify, locate, and contact copyright holders, but the path runs cold, can you disregard copyright? Maybe by claiming fair use or lack of traceable copyright?

  Trademark requires active use. I don’t believe there’s such a thing for copyright. Are there limits other than regular fair use and documented year expiration?

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  • Kichae@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

    No. You don’t get to just decide you have the right to use someone else’s work just because you coudn’t find them to ask, any more than you get to decide that you can use their car. Them not actively selling their works isn’t the equivalent of leaving the car derilict on public property.

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    • 4am@lemmy.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

      It should be, and they should only get 14 years before it expires.

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