«

[Eva02Soul]

I was just wondering about something. If a company falls apart, goes bankrupt, gets bought out or what have you, can their software still be protected by the ESA, or does it immediately become regarded as abandoned?

[Sebatianos]

It depends...
If a company is bought out, the one how bought them probably also has the copyrights to the game. It's really a case-to-case thing. Which company/game did you have in mind?

[Eva02Soul]

Oh, none in particular. I just got curious all of a sudden. I think I was looking at INCA at the time. As far as I remember (I have INCA2) they were made by Coktel vision, which i haven't heard from in a very long time.

[Bobbin Threadbare]

Think of ESA as the mafia. You do something bad (pirate an ESA game) and the boss (head f company) calls the mafia (ESA) to hunt you down and kill you. See my point?

[Eva02Soul]

Originally posted by Bobbin Threadbare@Nov 24 2005, 12:55 PM
Think of ESA as the mafia. You do something bad (pirate an ESA game) and the boss (head f company) calls the mafia (ESA) to hunt you down and kill you. See my point?

Don't piss off the mafia?

[A. J. Raffles]

Originally posted by Eva02Soul@Nov 24 2005, 12:23 PM
I was just wondering about something. If a company falls apart, goes bankrupt, gets bought out or what have you, can their software still be protected by the ESA, or does it immediately become regarded as abandoned?

It doesn't matter what happens to the companies, really. It's much more important what happens to the rights.

[The Fifth Horseman]

Don't piss off the mafia?

Exactly. And don't piss off ESA either...

[lethe]

Originally posted by Eva02Soul@Nov 24 2005, 12:59 PM
Don't piss off the mafia?

You can always kill the big boss.

[Tom Henrik]

Inca, eh? :P

Well, I am the ESA expert on this site (as I have a LOT of experience with them by now). As many people say, it doesn't matter what happens to the different companies, but rather what happens to the copyright for each individual game. However, what is most common is for a big company to buy up all the rights from a company (a buy-out).

Thus it is more common to find 1 or 2 games from a bought out company, in where the copyright lies with the actual game-programmer(s). And in those rare cases, the programmer(s) more than often releases the games as freeware for all to enjoy.

As to directly answer the question about Coktel and Inca I & II:
Both Inca games were made by Sierra On-Line and Coktel Vision, and the copyrights for both Sierra On-Line and Coktel Vision are today in the hands of Vivendi Universal - which pays ESA a lot of money each year to protect "their" copyrights.

So both Inca I and Inca II are protected by ESA, however... Inca II is still available for sale here.
:Tom:

[Alf Hari]

I guess you have to remember that no internet collector has the 'right' to obtain all of this software. Remember, these companies probably stuck their necks out to make these games, for very little reward sometimes; you can't just expect that you can have free access to something someone else put a lot of effort and risk into making.

Personally, however, I'd like to see more free 'Abandoned' games, because sometimes there is very little point in keeping the rights protected. This being said, if you haven't programmed the game yourself or paid for the rights to use it, you shouldn't expect to be able to get it for free - Abandonware is a privelage, not a right.

If you can't abide by the wishes of the people who own the game, then it's a bit hypocritical to think that you know best and should be able to have the game.

Anyway, there should be some type of opt-out clause in an ESA protection deal, so that companies can choose for their software to become 'Abandoned' after say a decade or two. Problem is, things aren't so simple and I'm sure it's hard to make it so everyone wins.