this post was submitted on 28 Nov 2024
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*if they feel like offering it
And this is the real cost. Sorry Mario Brothers will pretty much always be available as long as Nintendo is around, but obscure games or classics with disputed Copyright will disappear.
Who is out there even trying to stream the old Sierra games? At least they are on GoG, but I know even GoG has tried to track down current copyright holders for old classics and the are plenty of orphan games where after several mergers and divestments, there is some uncertainty, and it's not worth it for any of the potential copyright holders to sort it out and license it, and unfortunately it's not worth it for GoG to publish it to find out if they'll sue GoG.
This is why Abandonware is such an important concept.
Oni, Alien Vs. Predator 2, No One Lives Forever 1 and 2, MechWarrior 2/3/4, Black & White 1 and 2...
And that's just at the top of my head. Copyright hell is awful.
One thing I've heard is it's sometimes a weird stalemate where companies might have the property in their basement somewhere, but if there's interest in it, suddenly the value will shoot up, so nobody wants to confirm it in case they're the loser and will have it extorted from them.
I'm probably explaining it wrong. (Because it's absolute nonsense.) But someone might know a better explanation than I.
I know there are several seminal works locked in archives or even just lost.
I couldn't think of any specific examples off the top of my head, but I was considering the fate of Microprose, Sierra On-Line, and other studios that were gobbled up, disbanded, broken up, etc.
Your Mechwarrior example is a good example of licensing, where you might have defunct TTRPG studios (FASA) licensing a property to a have company it studio that has also gone though several mergers.
There should be a "use it or lose it" provision in copyright law, kind of like back in the day with what happened to "It's A Wonderful Life". The only reason IAWL became a Christmas classic isbecause it became public domain.