Space Quest Seven
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Space Quest Seven
I dont know if this topic has been covered before... if so, oh well.
In case non of you have visited their site for the past 3 or so months, they have a new layout. I would like to think what yu guys think about the project? Honetly I think its going to be the best fan project to be released. Well I'm sure its going to be releasedlate 2005, one of the developers said so. So theres something to look forward to. I mean just about in one years time we will play one of the finest projects out there.
www.sq7.org
In case non of you have visited their site for the past 3 or so months, they have a new layout. I would like to think what yu guys think about the project? Honetly I think its going to be the best fan project to be released. Well I'm sure its going to be releasedlate 2005, one of the developers said so. So theres something to look forward to. I mean just about in one years time we will play one of the finest projects out there.
www.sq7.org
- Sir Nyrhinen
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- Slacker of Shapeir
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I think it'll stay that way. I don't think that the SQ7 team sees Sierra's non-responsiveness as a factor in whether they'll release the game or not. If Sierra comes down on them, then they won't release. Otherwise, they will.I'm quite curious about those "negotiations" of theirs with Sierra. I know stuff like that can take lots of time, but it's been more than 2 years since that entry was added to the FAQ and no statement yet.
I am not an SQ7 Developer in disguise. Promise.
Isn't that a little risky? Officially, a company has no obligation to send in a cease & desist letter before taking someone to court over copyright infringement. It's just usually done because the offender is given the "benefit of the doubt". If contact between both parties has already taken place, there's little room for doubt anymore.I think it'll stay that way. I don't think that the SQ7 team sees Sierra's non-responsiveness as a factor in whether they'll release the game or not. If Sierra comes down on them, then they won't release. Otherwise, they will.
It's not all that much riskier than the AGD's work.Isn't that a little risky? Officially, a company has no obligation to send in a cease & desist letter before taking someone to court over copyright infringement.
They don't have an obligation, but I think they also know full well that they're not going to gain much financially by taking them to court. I'm assuming the people involved have very little wealth to make it worthwhile. If they want it stopped, a cease and desist is more effective - usually works, and I don't think the SQ7 Development team has shown any signs to them or publicly that they don't care about Sierra's opinion.
I guess perhaps what I wrote earlier could be misconstrued. I did not mean to imply that the SQ7 team doesn't care what Sierra thinks. Just that they've done what they can in contacting Sierra, and from what I've mostly heard (usually on the Broomcloset forums) is that the responses were more or less vague with little conclusive value. Nothing supporting SQ7, nothing discouraging it.
I think that was a long time ago, and no one saw fit to pursue that avenue further.
Clearly, the SQ7 team can't stop development just because of the off chance Sierra may go after them (especially when they didn't go after the AGD's, or the other SQ fan made games out there). I believe they informed Sierra early on regarding their intention to create a game, and as Sierra neither consented nor objected, they continued their work. If Sierra sends them a notice to stop, I'm fairly sure they simply will do just that.
Again, they're within their rights to go to court, but just because they can doesn't mean they will. It's not as if there's any money involved in SQ7. It won't be sold. Sierra won't get any money out of pursuing them. Sierra is, AFAIK, not making a SQ game, so they can't even claim that SQ7 is hurting their profits.If contact between both parties has already taken place, there's little room for doubt anymore.
I just don't understand what Sierra's purpose in going to court would be. If all they want is for it to be stopped (which is quite understandable), they'll send a notice. It costs them nothing to do so. Even if it doesn't work, it's almost always the first step - in the off chance that they will cease and desist. If they want to be nasty, they could even demand all the source code (SLAGE engine), media files, etc. I somehow doubt that SQ7 will even try to fight that. There's no way SQ7 can win a court case, and they'll comply.
Sierra's not going to ask for money. There's no money to be had from all this. If they try, the SQ7 team can file for bankruptcy as the worst case - Sierra can't get much money out of that. So the most the SQ7 team will lose is a few years of hard work. Somewhat painful, but nothing more than any fan made Sierra based game project would lose in the same position.
Even if it comes to that, I'm sure each of the developing team gained much in this endeavour. Might not be something they'll be able to put on their resume, but they probably learned new tools, learned how to work in a group, gained wisdom and so on.
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- Infamous Sheik of Australia
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Making games based on other peoples intellectual copyrights is illegal. Decompiling a companies source codes is illegal. KQ1VGA, KQ2+, KQ3VGA, MMD, SCI Studio, AGI Studio, QFI, SQ7, SQ3VGA, all would fall prey to the nasty end of a lawsuit if the copyright holders decided to pursue the issue. End of story.
The good news at this stage is that they haven't. Wait and see if Larry Lovage is a huge hit and see how Sierra might start protecting their old copyrights again. Just a thought.
The good news at this stage is that they haven't. Wait and see if Larry Lovage is a huge hit and see how Sierra might start protecting their old copyrights again. Just a thought.
So is claiming trademark on something you don't own, which Vivendi is doing right now. On their SQ Classic Adventures forum, they claim to own the TM on Space Quest. In fact, it's owned by the Children's Museum of Indianapolis, and have paid a licensing fee each time they wish to use it for a game.Klytos wrote:Making games based on other peoples intellectual copyrights is illegal.
Additionally of note is the fact that Sierra/VUGames was notified about SQ7. They've also left SQ:TLC and SQ0 out in the wild for years. According to the law, a copyright/TM can be challenged if it is proven that the company has failed to protect it. Companies like Xerox are fighting like hell not to lose their marks (because they have let 'xerox' become a household word), and the same applies here.
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- Gronagor
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Yeah. They don't own the title 'Space Quest', but if you make a game based on THEIR games, it has nothing to do with 'the Children's Museum of Indianapolis'. Hmmm... except you're probably stepping into a three way battle, but if you're right (and I guess you are since I've seen a lot of Space Quest related things that had nothing to do with Sierra's Space Quest) both can sue you as much as they want.Jaeden wrote:So is claiming trademark on something you don't own, which Vivendi is doing right now. On their SQ Classic Adventures forum, they claim to own the TM on Space Quest. In fact, it's owned by the Children's Museum of Indianapolis, and have paid a licensing fee each time they wish to use it for a game.Klytos wrote:Making games based on other peoples intellectual copyrights is illegal.
Sierra's rights probably isn't in the name alone, but rather in the idea of 'an adventure game of a clumsy janitor who saves the universe' connected with the title 'Space Quest'. THAT's their trademark.
Yeah. That's easy for a company to protest against. Where do you think an amateur will get the money for this type of court-case? This type of case could be in court for years.Additionally of note is the fact that Sierra/VUGames was notified about SQ7. They've also left SQ:TLC and SQ0 out in the wild for years. According to the law, a copyright/TM can be challenged if it is proven that the company has failed to protect it. Companies like Xerox are fighting like hell not to lose their marks (because they have let 'xerox' become a household word), and the same applies here.
'Space Quest' is scary grounds to trespass on. If VU (or whoever owns Sierra right now) plans to continue an adventure series, it WILL be Space Quest.