Copyright issues with remakes?

This forum is a place to talk about AGDI games and projects.

Moderators: adeyke, VampD3, eriqchang, Angelus3K

Post Reply
Message
Author
Aladin
Peasant Status
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Dec 04, 2005 2:05 am

Copyright issues with remakes?

#1 Post by Aladin » Sun Dec 04, 2005 2:12 am

I'm considering downloading and trying the Kings Quest remakes, but would like to make sure it is completely legal to do so. Can you confirm that AGD Interactive has obtained the rights to remake these games from the copyright holder? If they have not, remaking and distributing a game that someone else has the copyright for would be an illegal act, would it not?

Thanks.

The Guy
Knight Status
Posts: 162
Joined: Sun Sep 04, 2005 1:02 pm
Location: Mass, US

#2 Post by The Guy » Sun Dec 04, 2005 2:41 am

Yes, it is absolutely legal to do so.  They contacted and made an agreement with Vivendi Universal before they even recreated both games.  And you should download them, they are both very well done games.  King's Quest I is a 1:1 remake, so if you have played that before you will definitely remember it (or most of it).  King's Quest II, while I haven't played the original, from what I have read it adds more depth to the story and also increased the play time in it, so it is more an original game!

navynuke04
Honorary AGD
Posts: 5378
Joined: Fri Sep 13, 2002 1:19 am
Location: US of A
Contact:

#3 Post by navynuke04 » Sun Dec 04, 2005 6:12 am

The Guy wrote:Yes, it is absolutely legal to do so.  They contacted and made an agreement with Vivendi Universal before they even recreated both games.  And you should download them, they are both very well done games.  King's Quest I is a 1:1 remake, so if you have played that before you will definitely remember it (or most of it).  King's Quest II, while I haven't played the original, from what I have read it adds more depth to the story and also increased the play time in it, so it is more an original game!
Actually, we didn't contact them. They contacted us. And that wasn't until after KQ2 was released. Up until then, both games were technically copyright infringement. We have an agreement with Vivendi now though, so yes, it's perfectly legal.

The Guy
Knight Status
Posts: 162
Joined: Sun Sep 04, 2005 1:02 pm
Location: Mass, US

#4 Post by The Guy » Sun Dec 04, 2005 2:54 pm

Really??  I thought I had read (maybe it was a badly written article???) or possibly heard somewhere that AGDI went and contacted Vivendi.  Well, I guess I was wrong in this matter.  Sorry for the misinformation Aladin and sorry Navy, I'll try and look for factual details next time.  All the same though, it is legal to download the games.

navynuke04
Honorary AGD
Posts: 5378
Joined: Fri Sep 13, 2002 1:19 am
Location: US of A
Contact:

#5 Post by navynuke04 » Sun Dec 04, 2005 3:18 pm

'Tis alright. You won't really find very many factual details. Part of our agreement was that we kept it confidential.

landimal
Peasant Status
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed May 26, 2004 4:55 pm

#6 Post by landimal » Wed Dec 07, 2005 5:26 pm

I've always wondered about that but never hung around long enough to read the FAQs etc.  The KQ2 remake had a much better plot.  I always wondered why Neptune would leave his stuff laying around on the beach.

Copyright issues are such a hairy ball anyway, a friend of mine had a series of puzzle games that he was going to make into a series Dice Jam, Word Jam etc.  But there was already a Word Jam out there so he had to change his games name or fight a silly court battle.  (not going to link because that would be impolite linking one game company from another game crew's website.)

I'm no copyright law expert but I think KQ1 & KQ2 remakes might have been fine for a few reasons:
- Didn't charge for the works
- did not use the copyrighted art or music
- did not slander or depreciate the initial works in any way

That said there is an interesting story about the author of the Maltese Falcon.  He had sold the rights to everything, apparently including the characters to the movie studio when the movie was made.  When he wrote a sequel to the book he was actually sued by the studio for infringing on his own creations.

Side note:  Thank you AGDI for rekindling my love of these old games, great work and I look forward to supporting your for-profit endeavor.

navynuke04
Honorary AGD
Posts: 5378
Joined: Fri Sep 13, 2002 1:19 am
Location: US of A
Contact:

#7 Post by navynuke04 » Wed Dec 07, 2005 7:09 pm

landimal wrote:- did not use the copyrighted art or music
Actually, a lot of art was "recycled" when doing KQ1 and KQ2. We didn't take entire backgrounds and reuse them, but pieced parts of backgrounds together to make new ones. It's a practice that has become known as collaging.

Anonymous Game Creator 2
The Prince of Shapeir
Posts: 8887
Joined: Tue May 08, 2001 4:12 am
Location: Phobos
Contact:

#8 Post by Anonymous Game Creator 2 » Thu Dec 08, 2005 12:15 pm

I'm no copyright law expert but I think KQ1 & KQ2 remakes might have been fine for a few reasons:
- Didn't charge for the works
- did not use the copyrighted art or music
- did not slander or depreciate the initial works in any way
We were really just very lucky. We didn't research copyright law sufficiently beforehand and simply based our remakes on assumptions (the general consensus) of what certain clauses and laws we're believed to have meant.

There's a lot more to it than people generally realize; and as recently seen in the case of KQ9 being issued with a Cease and Desist letter, I personally wouldn't recommend new dev teams to work on fan games. It's just not worth the risk.

landimal
Peasant Status
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed May 26, 2004 4:55 pm

#9 Post by landimal » Thu Dec 08, 2005 2:55 pm

Here is one fan who is glad you got lucky.  I know Lucas arts is big on compilations and collections so I always figured the Lucasfan crew had a big chance of getting shut down.

Some battles could probably be won legally but independent devs do not have the time/money/resources/energy to combat the big guys.  In my short stint in the video games industry I saw a ton of issues get to the lawyers-talking-to-laywers stage and then fizzle out (usually over no compete clauses and other contract issues).  

The thing that impressed me about AGDI's work was the serious quality and attention to detail.  I actually found your site while trying to find a fix for a crash bug I kept running into in the orig QG2 and I grabbed both remakes.  My jaw dropped and I had to call my wife in to see this.  She had played KQ2 on an Apple eons ago and she was impressed as well.  

Its one thing to make a fan game, its something else entirely to elevate the genre in your homage.  I applaud your work ethic for this labor of love and eagerly await the QG2 remake.  

I wish the companies that sit on this intellectual property would at least offer compilation CDs so that those that are interested in the history of gaming could appreciate where things came from.  Heck the guy that founded The Learning Company got his start from Rocky's Boots a digital logic training game and his company has never released anything similar in the two and a half decades since then.  

Total side note but I'm looking for a teaching tool for digital logic, I currently use Rocky's Boots under DOSbox (totally legal too, got a box of 12 at a yard sale for a dollar) but I'd like something as engaging but for college kids.

navynuke04
Honorary AGD
Posts: 5378
Joined: Fri Sep 13, 2002 1:19 am
Location: US of A
Contact:

#10 Post by navynuke04 » Thu Dec 08, 2005 8:40 pm

landimal wrote:I wish the companies that sit on this intellectual property would at least offer compilation CDs so that those that are interested in the history of gaming could appreciate where things came from.
Vivendi will be releasing compilation collections sometime in January. You can find the collections on Amazon or Walmart.com

User avatar
Jontas
Royal Servant Status
Posts: 121
Joined: Thu Jul 08, 2004 5:26 pm
Location: San Diego - California

Compilations by Vivendi

#11 Post by Jontas » Thu Dec 29, 2005 10:01 am

navynuke04 wrote:Vivendi will be releasing compilation collections sometime in January. You can find the collections on Amazon or Walmart.com
Actually the date has been moved
King's Quest, Space Quest and Police Quest Compilations by Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing

Platform:    Windows XP
Price:   $19.99
Availability: This item will be released on March 30, 2006

MusicallyInspired
The Master of All Things Musical
Posts: 4030
Joined: Tue Aug 20, 2002 8:57 pm
Location: Manitoba, Canada

#12 Post by MusicallyInspired » Thu Dec 29, 2005 4:15 pm

LOL! March, now!

Post Reply