Question about legalities...

Oh yeah, I'm pretty sure that's not legal. But if you're talking about Overseer disc 5, I don't think anyone would care. It's useless on its own.

My biggest concern would be that those .iso files would be pretty big. I wouldn't put anything that big on my own site without thinking about my data transfer limits first. Keeping the .iso file in a secret directory and constantly changing its name could work too.

Snail-mailing CDs to the desperately needy seems like it would make more sense.

It's hard to say... I mean if you go to eBay and look at all the different things being sold that are under Copyright, but those people never pay any type of fee for reselling that copyrighted material...
I don't work too much with Copyrighted cases, but I can make a call and get back to you in a day or two...

I agree with Jane, Cub. You snailed me an UAKM disk 1 back in the day when mine got scratched beyond readability, & it's worked great for me. If I'd had to do a download, I'd have had to find a way to burn it onto a disk, something at the time I wasn't able to do.

I think that people do need a way to back up their favorite games in case of damage to the originals, but I also think that people get wiser as to how to care for their games after they learn the fragility of the reading surface of a CD. From my experience, I got metal CD cases to house my games, & also took better care to make sure they were in it at the end of game time. Haven't lost a disk since, though I am glad to say that ain't the only lesson Tex taught me. ?)

If you do go with an online download thing, if I were you, I'd only put up on the server just the CD that the person needed & take it back down when they're done, which they'd tell you when they were. Otherwise, it's just asking, and probably more like begging, for trouble.

But, I will admit, what keeps Tex from being freeware? How long does it take for a game to become freeware due to age? If it's been nigh unplayable on modern computers for at least 6 years (incompatible with XP, Vista, etc.), then what keeps it from being able to be shared for love of the game? Surely all the profits that matter were made long ago, even before the turn of the millennium. When the most recent Tex adventure, Overseer, came out almost a decade ago, is a profit now even discernable anymore? Yet, isn't that what piracy laws are meant to protect, the profit margin?

Just a thought.

Hammerhead

Hammerhead wrote: But, I will admit, what keeps Tex from being freeware? How long does it take for a game to become freeware due to age?

I got Mean Streets and Martian Memorandum from http://www.abandonia.com/ I also got some other Access games there (like Amazon - Guardians of Eden!)

Yet they don't have any Links games. I guess Microsoft owns them all.

No doubt about the legalities there, it is illegal. Basically what you're doing is you're allowing yourself the right to act as a distributer for Access without their consent. Now, while you're not making profit, there still is a legal issue here and this is the weird part. Although the company is in liquidation, those games are still property of Access and hence you are depriving them of profit, even though they are sixfeet under.

By doing this you allow users to access the website and appropriate a product they would normally have to pay for. So, yes it is illegal. Ironically enough though...i'd be VERY interested to see AC's reaction to this. He may actually give the "ok" to do it, but Access or whatever is left of them could still have a claim in it.

Step one: Upload torrent
Step two: Give us torrent
Step three: ???
Step four: Profit

You know, I was thinking about the same issue. Back in my high school days, I used to use WinMX as a filesharing program just like everyone else did. Well one day, I was looking through this guys file listings and he had all these games, either in zips or rars or whatever. So I'm looking though and I see "Tex Murphy - Under a Killing Moon CD1.bin" And it made me stop and look at it again. He had all four CDs shared on his file listing. I thought, "How cool, a Tex Murphy fan." So I thought nothing of it as I looked more and more at what he had, and he had PD and Overseer. And I thought "How cool, this guy must love Tex as much as I do." So after I entertained that thought for a minute, I started to think "...Hey, wait a minute... is he illegally sharing these Tex Murphy games?" Now that was in like 2000 or 2001 when Overseer was a couple of years old.

I have been a follower of Apogee/3D Realms for a long time now. I think what they do (and I may be wrong) is that they buy the rights for their old games in the 2000's, and that makes it still copyright for at least another 10 years (and I think there is a 10 year abandonware limit, though I still may be wrong). But for old games that they decide to "discontinue" support for, I think that means they don't want to buy the rights for an old 1989 game, so its abandonware. Now I may be totally wrong about this, but thats what I think.

The snail-mail issue does work. I asked Alex Bark a couple of years back if he could mail me a copy of Overseer CD2 cause it broke years ago. He sent me the CD all the way from Russia. And speaking of, I wonder if hes still around.

But anyway, thats my two cents. I would be really interested in seeing what AC has to say about this. Maybe if we write enough about it, he may drop in and say something about it. *Sowden crosses his fingers*

I understand how it would be illegal to profit from it without the consent of Access, but technically the game is out of print, which means that any copies sold these days (not in a proper retail store) the profit from the sale does not go to Access anyway. It goes to the seller. Unless of course you are still able to find a fresh unopened copy in a retail store that is not part of an online shopfront.

so basically it is next to impossible for Access to make any more profit from the sale of the games as the only type of sales left are private based sales. But yes, it is still illegal if you distribute copies without Access's explicit consent.

However, what I plan on doing with these online copies is NOT simply put them up for DL to anyone who does not have the games. I plan on having them there to help those who have already paid for their copy, but have lost a particular CD. Which I am pretty sure would be okay, provided that I restrict access to the files, and allow only those who have given sufficient information about their current copy and why they need a replacement disk.

-Cub. =o)

You could put a 1 Cent fee on the Download, thus you would be no different than those who sell the game on eBay, except you are selling for a lot cheaper and you are selling a Digital Copy apposed to a Physical Copy...

As long as you don't turn it into Freeware {like you are purposing}, I believe you will be in the clear...

Bafitis wrote:You could put a 1 Cent fee on the Download, thus you would be no different than those who sell the game on eBay, except you are selling for a lot cheaper and you are selling a Digital Copy apposed to a Physical Copy...

I think the Physical Copy at some point (like when it was first bought back in the 90s) would of had money exchanging hands with the original creators which makes it OK to trade that copy for other games/money or sell on, because they're simply re-imbursing the money they originally spent on it and passing on the cost of the original item a little. But a Digital Copy wouldn't have generated any money for the original creators, so it'd probably be seen differently by the liscence holders. Would be an idea though for the original liscence holders to put it up on an iTunes type network though.

However, what I plan on doing with these online copies is NOT simply put them up for DL to anyone who does not have the games. I plan on having them there to help those who have already paid for their copy, but have lost a particular CD. Which I am pretty sure would be okay, provided that I restrict access to the files, and allow only those who have given sufficient information about their current copy and why they need a replacement disk.

Now that I think of it, it could fall under fair use (which is nebulous anyway). You'd be giving away only portion of the work in question, not the whole thing. It can't function as a whole.

Here in Michigan anyone can install a burglar alarm system without having an alarm license AS LONG AS IT IS NOT DONE FOR PROFIT!!! These games are long gone and can only be found by resellers who put all profits into their own pockets. I fail to see the legallity issue. Is there anyone out there - specifically MS - who is watching, tracking and/or pursuing those who resell their games? I doubt it. Where's the harm in loading games on a website for others to access (bad pun) for free? On the other hand, I'm not an attorney and have no specific knowledge of copyright rules.

Jim the old guy wrote: On the other hand, I'm not an attorney and have no specific knowledge of copyright rules.

Yes, but you are Jim the old guy, and your knowledge is vast.

Thanks, Adnin! Unfortunately, my paunch is a bit vast as well. Could be worse, though. A couple years back I was so overweight that my kids called me buddha.