Amiga.org
Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Gaming => Topic started by: Roman78 on November 30, 2005, 06:42:30 AM
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I found some sites were i can download much games. Old games like "The Secret of Monkey Island" or "Lotus III". These sites are legal. So i wondering is it legal to collect al those game's and press them on a collectors cd and resell it? For those who don't want to search all the internet for games.
Complete whit Fellow and WinUAE ofcourse. Only problem are the Rom-files. But i think rom 1.3 is copyright by Commodore, and they doesn't excist anymore. Does the copyright still excist than? And the copyright is from 1987, and i learnd that a copyright wil disapear after a couple of years. (most are 10 years). Amiga forever also sell it whit 2 rom files, do they have a contract?
I'm asking this becouse we want to start a webstore whit a lot of software. New and old. Opensource and commecrial software. And i also though C64, Amiga, Atari and that kind. I also wil connect "Amiga Forever" that i want to be a reseller.
Is there more to know? More software?
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Check the policies of the sites offering the legal downloads and also if there are any stipulations on the individual games.
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@Roman78
I found some sites were i can download much games. Old games like "The Secret of Monkey Island" or "Lotus III". These sites are legal.
Funny, as The Secret of Monkey Island isn't available for download legally. Lotus III is (http://www.back2roots.org/Games/Files/Lotus%20III%2C1/), though. However, Lotus III is "Commercial" and http://www.back2roots.org/About/Project/Policy/#1 applies:
For all commercial software offered here these additional rules apply:
- You are welcome to download and use the licensed software at no cost.
- You are not allowed to redistribute any of the licensed software without permission.
- Unless stated otherwise there is no support for the licensed software.
(while that is just back2root's policy, the bit about not being allowed to redistribute the files without permission applies generally.)
So i wondering is it legal to collect al those game's and press them on a collectors cd and resell it?
99.9% of the cases NO. The only exception is games that are released as PD. In all other cases you need a written explicit permission/license to sell the games, from the copyright holder. Don't trust some 3rd party for legal status of the games.
But i think rom 1.3 is copyright by Commodore, and they doesn't excist anymore. Does the copyright still excist than?
YES.
And the copyright is from 1987, and i learnd that a copyright wil disapear after a couple of years. (most are 10 years).
I don't know where you've learned that, but it's nonsense. This is not true (in any civiliced countries at least). It's at least 50 years after death of the author, in many countries even more.
See http://www.whatiscopyright.org/ and Berne Convention (http://www.law.cornell.edu/treaties/berne/overview.html).
Amiga forever also sell it whit 2 rom files, do they have a contract?
Yes, they do.
See Amiga Forever FAQ: Distribution of Amiga ROM and OS Files (http://www.amigaforever.com/kb/3-122.html).
I'm asking this becouse we want to start a webstore whit a lot of software. New and old. Opensource and commecrial software. And i also though C64, Amiga, Atari and that kind. I also wil connect "Amiga Forever" that i want to be a reseller.
Friendly suggestion: Try to figure out the law before setting up any business, you'll save lots of headache later.
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So i have to ask the owner to reproduce, i thought that. But what if a company does not excist anymore?
By the way, i found The secret on monkey island [link removed by admin], and thats a legal site, saying it's freeware. Or is that a trial?
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Monkey Island IS NOT freeware!
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@Roman78
So i have to ask the owner to reproduce, i thought that. But what if a company does not excist anymore?
Then you can't redistribute anything. Isn't this quite obvious huh?
(Often the rights to games are sold when the company gets defunct. In some cases the rights might return to the game author(s). Regardless, there is no such thing as abadonware, and the copyright remains even if the company dies. You must get the permission and if you can't, you can't redistribute.)
By the way, i found The secret on monkey island here, and thats a legal site, saying it's freeware. Or is that a trial?
It's quite obvious the site in question is NOT legal then.
I suggest you edit out the link. Amiga.org has strict posting guidelines regarding piracy (http://www.amiga.org/modules/sections/index.php?op=viewarticle&artid=6).
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I would remind each of you as necessary that the discussion of piracy, the posting of links to pirated files, etcetera is forbidden as per the posting guidelines linked at the left of your screen.
We have these rules for a reason folks. Obey.
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I'm sorry for the link. But didn't thought that that side was illigle.
I wil make a list wiht al companies to get a written permission. And contact them. Like the dutch sais: "Not shooten is always missed"
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> But what if a company does not excist anymore?
They may have sold it to another company or individual.
If not transferred, then the person who owned the company before it closed would still retain those rights personally.
It may be hard to find out who owns the rights, but that doesn't mean that no one does. If it's too much trouble to find out for certain, then it's best to not resell it, lest someone that you couldn't track down yourself have his lawyer come after you.
Think of i this way... Most of us thought a lot of old '80's games were abandoned and weren't going to go anywhere, so stealing them didn't lose anyone money because no one was selling it. Well, look around now, there's retro game packs, TV joystick games, and all kinds of stuff going on with many games that were said to be abandoned. Someone rounded up the rights holders, paid license fees, and is making money off that old stuff again. You don't know that any Amiga game rights holders aren't planning something similar, but even if not it still doesn't matter.
Anyone owning rights to something sold without their permission has the right to sue, even if the item in question isn't otherwise on the market at the time.
And look up what Disney and friends are trying to do to extend te copyright period. It's already longer than 10 years, and the big guys want it to be forever and ever, and are trying to inch along to get there.
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Apart from the legality-issue it's also plain lame to collect old games, burn em on a DVD and flog it on ebay.
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I wil not sell them on ebay. I'm makeing an own webstore in PHP. Server is running and already installed.
First i wil contact al open source manufactures, like all linux, bsd, sun and also closed source like linspire and Zeta. And the games wil come later. Next year some where.
And why is it lame? When people order a cd whit 100 or 1000 games on it. Ultimate Amiga Game collection. Like Amiga Forever only sells 2 OS, 2 roms and some freeware like Winfellow and WinUAE. And a little interface. When i'm going to make it is also got an interface where the enduser just klik a game and it's going to start. And i do not burn it, i press it.
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The bottom line is you cannot sell a CD/DVD full of commercial software, even if it is 50 years old. Now if you want to offer this Freeware/Abandonware disc for FREE or say ~$1 (cost of media) then that is a different story! Are you willing to do that? If not then you are violating copyright laws by selling copyrighted materials for monetary gains and can be fined. It's up to you.
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Ah okay, I was thinking of yet another EBay DVD filled with several thousand miggy games =).
Good luck contacting the copyright-holders, I can imagine it's going to be a pain trying to track them all down. :/
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Roman78 wrote:
So i have to ask the owner to reproduce, i thought that. But what if a company does not excist anymore?
By the way, i found The secret on monkey island [link removed by admin], and thats a legal site, saying it's freeware. Or is that a trial?
Afaik monkey island is not freeware, as it is still being sold by lucasarts..
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Roman78 wrote:
I wil not sell them on ebay. I'm makeing an own webstore in PHP. Server is running and already installed.
First i wil contact al open source manufactures, like all linux, bsd, sun and also closed source like linspire and Zeta. And the games wil come later. Next year some where.
And why is it lame? When people order a cd whit 100 or 1000 games on it. Ultimate Amiga Game collection. Like Amiga Forever only sells 2 OS, 2 roms and some freeware like Winfellow and WinUAE. And a little interface. When i'm going to make it is also got an interface where the enduser just klik a game and it's going to start. And i do not burn it, i press it.
Cloanto actually paid license money to amiga inc for both the OS and roms afaik..
Back2roots is a example of a site that is entirely legal and got permission from various of commerical companies for redistributing these games/adf images for free.
I am sure you could get permission from some of them as well, but i doubt many of them would allow you to sell these games for personal profits, unless you make a money deal with them :-P
And as tjlazer said, it is a whole different deal if you only charge for the media price and dont make a direct profit yourself. You still would have to get permission unless they are already been made PD.
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Tomas wrote:
And as tjlazer said, it is a whole different deal if you only charge for the media price and dont make a direct profit yourself. You still would have to get permission unless they are already been made PD.
So what's with www.amigagames.co.uk (http://www.amigagames.co.uk/) ? They look legit (at least the website looks professional) and they claim that the Amiga ROM images are licensed.
But the list of games include stuff from DMA (now Rockstar), Sensible software (now owned by Codemasters), Psygnosis (now SCE), Ocean (bought by Infogrames now Atari) and hundreds more? We must assume that they have obtained permission. Somehow I think that £49 for the set is still making them a profit.
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Lando wrote:
Tomas wrote:
And as tjlazer said, it is a whole different deal if you only charge for the media price and dont make a direct profit yourself. You still would have to get permission unless they are already been made PD.
So what's with www.amigagames.co.uk (http://www.amigagames.co.uk/) ? They look legit (at least the website looks professional) and they claim that the Amiga ROM images are licensed.
But the list of games include stuff from DMA (now Rockstar), Sensible software (now owned by Codemasters), Psygnosis (now SCE), Ocean (bought by Infogrames now Atari) and hundreds more? We must assume that they have obtained permission. Somehow I think that £49 for the set is still making them a profit.
I know nothing about their story, but i find it hard to believe that they actually managed to get permission for so much software and games..
I did not say that you cannot make a profit, because you can if you get a license or permission from the developers, which is the case with for example cloanto. What i said, is that i doubt that most of these software companies will allow you to sell their software, without giving them royalities, even if this same companies did give you permission to distribute the software for free on the internet.