FAQ - Dmoz/Computers/Software/Abandonware

Archive-name:dmoz.org/Computers/Software/Abandonware
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Last-modified:2004-03-01 20:08:45
URL:http://dmoz.org/Computers/Software/Abandonware/faq.html
Category:Computers/Software/Abandonware

Table of Contents

1  What is abandonware?
2  Isn't it OK to copy games that are no longer distributed in the stores or commercially exploited?
3  Haven't the copyrights for old games (like Atari & Commodore) expired?
4  So all abandonware is illegal then?

1   Q: What is abandonware?
A: Software that is least three years old (some say seven years) and not being sold or supported by the company that produced it or by any other company. When a certain piece of abandonware is again sold or supported by a company (for instance in a re-release or a compilation), then it ceases to be abandonware.
by liftarn at 2001-03-23 09:20:41
2   Q: Isn't it OK to copy games that are no longer distributed in the stores or commercially exploited?
A: No, the current availability of a game in stores is irrelevant to its copyright status. Unlike trademarks, copyrights are not considered abandoned if they are no longer enforced. Copyrights do not enter the public domain just because they are no longer commercially exploited or widely available. Therefore, the copyrights of games are valid even if the games are not found on store shelves, and copying or distributing those games is a copyright infringement.
by liftarn at 2000-07-25 13:24:05
3   Q: Haven't the copyrights for old games (like Atari & Commodore) expired?
A: U.S. copyright laws state that copyrights owned by corporations are valid for 75 years from the date of first publication. Because video & computer games have been around for less than three decades, the copyrights of all video and computer programs will not expire for many decades to come.
by liftarn at 2000-07-25 13:24:25
4   Q: So all abandonware is illegal then?
A: No, not quite. If you own the original software but can't use it, perhaps because it on a 5.25" disk or the original disks are broken you have the right to use the software. The companies making them, if they still exists, are probably not able to replace them with working disks because it's abandoned software so to be able to use software you payed for you have to get it from somewhere else.

Also some of the abandonware are legal, for instance old shareware and commercial games now re-released as freeware.

by tschild at 2004-03-01 20:08:45

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