Remaking old games
by Rasmus Boserup · in General Discussion · 07/30/2007 (4:16 am) · 4 replies
I've been wondering about something.
To what degree is it legal to remake the old C64 games? - i've seen several Flash versions of old C64 games around the net, and have myself been thinking about starting one (as a game people can play for free...i dont want money for it).
But what about copyright? - where can i check which games are free to remake and which that are still under copyright?
Thx,
To what degree is it legal to remake the old C64 games? - i've seen several Flash versions of old C64 games around the net, and have myself been thinking about starting one (as a game people can play for free...i dont want money for it).
But what about copyright? - where can i check which games are free to remake and which that are still under copyright?
Thx,
#2
07/30/2007 (6:41 am)
I've been in contact with Chris Kaday recently, so I'll send him an email. (If you didnt know Chris Kaday was managing director of Commodore / Amiga). He might know the answer :)
#3
I've always wondered why some people where "allowed" to do remakes of old games. The last thing i heard/read was that a lot of the old C64 games are free to remake or publish on websites. But then again, one should never believe anything that's written on the Internet ;-)
@Aaron
Thank you for the advice, ill look into creating a "spiritual successor" ;-)
@Jules
That would be awesome! - please do follow up in this thread (or send me a mail) if you get any info.
07/30/2007 (9:01 am)
Thank you for clarifying.I've always wondered why some people where "allowed" to do remakes of old games. The last thing i heard/read was that a lot of the old C64 games are free to remake or publish on websites. But then again, one should never believe anything that's written on the Internet ;-)
@Aaron
Thank you for the advice, ill look into creating a "spiritual successor" ;-)
@Jules
That would be awesome! - please do follow up in this thread (or send me a mail) if you get any info.
#4
07/30/2007 (9:08 am)
Rasmus - Will do :)
Torque Owner Aaron E
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What you're referring to is called abandonware. This term and concept has no legal weight in American courts. I can only guess about other countries (like Denmark). If you proceed, then you do so at your own risk.
The safest solution is to track down the current owners of the original intellectual property (the game) and lay out a clear and well thought out plan for making a free of charge, fan made 'homage' to the original. Unfortunately, finding the current owners of the IP will, in some cases, be very difficult or impossible.
A few individuals and groups have been granted permission to develop such projects. Some of those have persisted and done well, while others went strong for several years, released some demos and then died out.
An alternative to all of this, however, is to carefully analyze what elements of the classic game made is "remake-worthy" in your eyes. During this review, you may discover that the game elements you identify can easily be built onto a world crafted from your own imagination. However, if your analysis suggests that it is the specific characters, vehicles, weapons, mecha or locations that are essential to a good remake, then you may not have any options but to abandon the idea and move on.
If carefully planned and built, these independently created "spiritual successor" games are more likely to be legal and safe to distribute. Also, you could also feel free to charge a reasonable price for your resulting game.
One notable spiritual successor game is Devil Whiskey, which is 'strongly' influenced by the old Bard's Tale game series. It's small, but very nice.
Good luck. Keep us posted.