Commander Keen 2, 3, 5, 6: is copyright trouble still there?

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SupFanat
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Commander Keen 2, 3, 5, 6: is copyright trouble still there?

Post by SupFanat »

Despite the fact, that the games are no longer officially sold by ID Software since many years? The copyright for such an old software is useless for the ID Software, why should it still be a trouble for the user? If the producer doesn't use the copyright for old software anymore - NO ONE needs it (otherwise it would be useful for ID Software, but it ISN'T)!
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fantomx11
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Post by fantomx11 »

Well, I doubt id is really concerned about that property, but they certainly could come at you for distributing it. There are full versions of every Keen game illegally available at various places on the internet, and I shan't name them. Personally, I feel that even though the original disks are long gone, it's not ethically wrong to download them if you owned them in the past (although it is illegal).
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biffstudly
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Post by biffstudly »

They're still sold on Steam, and people still own the rights to the games.

I'm gonna steal from wikipedia here to illustrate my point:
Abandonware is a product for which no product support is available and the manufacturer is ignoring the product. It is differentiated from a discontinued product because the manufacturer has not issued an official notice of discontinuance, instead, the manufacturer is simply ignoring the product. Copyright ownership may be unclear because while the manufacturer is ignoring the product it may not be tracking or enforcing copyright violations.

Definitions of "abandoned" vary; generally it refers to a product that is no longer available for legal purchase, over the age where the product creator feels an obligation to continue to support it, or where operating systems or hardware platforms have evolved to such a degree that the creator feels continued support cannot be financially justified. Software companies and manufacturers may change their names, go bankrupt, enter into mergers, or cease to exist for a variety of reasons. When this happens, product rights are usually transferred to another company that may elect not to sell or support products acquired.

Abandonware may be computer software or physical devices which are usually computerised in some fashion, such as personal computer games, productivity applications, utility software, or mobile phones.

In most cases, software classed as abandonware is not in the public domain, as it has never had its original copyright revoked and some company or individual still owns exclusive rights. Therefore, sharing of such software is usually considered copyright infringement, though in practice copyright holders rarely enforce their abandonware copyrights.
/endwalloftext

So basically it's always kind of going to be a grey area. Technically, you can distribute Keen 6, and they should never say anything as they no longer support it and have never posted a true recall (to my knowledge, tell me if I'm wrong for sure) PLUS the fact that the game hasn't been available for purchase for quite a few years now. So it's not ILLEGAL, but it's not strictly LEGAL. Kind of a sketchy area to tread.
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Levellass
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Post by Levellass »

And come on now, it's not like most Keen games will cost you an arm and a leg to get.
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lemm
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Post by lemm »

You still can't buy Keen 6 though, unless you want to spend 100 bucks on ebay.
SupFanat
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What would the original game authors say?

Post by SupFanat »

Do they still profit from the Commander Keen or are they going to profit from Commander Keen later?
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Levellass
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Post by Levellass »

I believe they're being cautious, just in case there's a multi-million dollar remake\sequel in the works somewhere. After all, what do they gain from making it free?
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fantomx11
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Post by fantomx11 »

Levellass wrote:I believe they're being cautious, just in case there's a multi-million dollar remake\sequel in the works somewhere. After all, what do they gain from making it free?
I kind of doubt it. id has released the source code of all of their games since wolfenstein after a few years. They gain nothing from that either.
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Post by Keening_Product »

fantomx11 wrote:I kind of doubt it. id has released the source code of all of their games since wolfenstein after a few years. They gain nothing from that either.
Don't forget that Keen 6 is tied up in other legal issues. IIRC, the distributors have more control over 6 than any of the others.
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Levack
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Post by Levack »

On the keenwiki it has illigal mods.using Mort6 and the rapidpack,you can make a full keen6(patched).Likewise with other mods.A real shame. >:
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Levellass
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Post by Levellass »

I kind of doubt it. id has released the source code of all of their games since wolfenstein after a few years. They gain nothing from that either.
Yes, but it doesn't cost them future revenue either.
What you really need, not what you think you ought to want.
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