sit2605 on 24/2/2004 at 15:54
Hello,
I'm not sure if this question has been posted before.
I wish to know if it is perfectly legal to re-create ultima underworld in 3d with a new 3d engine, naturally for a no-profit game.
I have no idea who can answer this question.
Thanks in advance.
Forsythe on 24/2/2004 at 23:30
Interesting question... someone redid System Shock 1 (I think) in such a way that it required the player to have the original disks for the graphics, and everything else was redone from scratch. I think he's been free of legal persecution, but can't remember his name (someone will, though).
Shadowcat on 25/2/2004 at 00:00
IaNaL, but I'm pretty sure the answer is that remaking Ultima Underworld is a breach of copyright, which is to say that E.A. (not Origin; I heard today that Origin is closing :/ ) would have legal authority to shut it down if they wanted to. There are a variety of Ultima remake projects out there, however, including some Underworld remakes -- you could probably glean some legal advice from them. IIRC there was a renowned Ultima (1) remake that was forced to change its name and content :/
Quote:
Cut and pasted from a copyright Q&A:
Q. copyrights only last for 70 years so a work written in 1912 is no longer copyrighted right?
A. NO. A copyright for a work created by an individual is good for 70 years AFTER the author's death.
Q. All this is really complicated, is there an easy way to make sure I don't infringe on someone's copyright?
A. Yes, ask permission from the copyright owner to use the work. First you need to FIND the copyright owner. You can do this by visiting (
http://www.loc.gov/copyright/title17.) This contains works copyrighted after 1 January 1978. You can also check the Catalog of copyright Entries. This can prove handy in searching for older copyright owners. The CCE was discontinued in 1982 but still available in most libraries. You can order a copyright search from (
http://www.loc.gov/copyright/forms/) by simply downloading the appropriate form and mailing it with the fee.
It seems to me that releasing a project capable of using the original media for all copyrighted material might indeed be a way around the problem, but that possibly requires that you don't update the architecture at all? (which may or may not have been an intended feature).
Anyhow, have a look at these before you go any further:
(
http://uwadv.sourceforge.net/index.php?page=links)
Udasai on 25/2/2004 at 05:45
Just make it, release it as public domain...what are they going to do, shut you down? Seize your profits?
Might be a good idea to incorporate first to shield yourself from personal liability...
Shadowcat on 25/2/2004 at 10:42
Well they most certainly <strong>can</strong> shut down such a project if they want to. I would say there's pretty much zero risk of losing anything more than time and effort -- any such occurance would doubtless consist of a "cease and desist"-type letter from their lawyer, and (presuming you complied) that would be the end of it.
The question is more "are they likely to?", and I think the chances are that no, they won't, except there's still the case of "Ultima - A Legend Reborn" which <em>was</em> hit by E.A.'s legal hammer... I think you'd probably be safe, and I'm almost positive that the most you'd risk losing would be the time and effort spent on it, but I don't think it's sensible to assume that there are no legal issues involved.
You might also consider the possibility of contributing to one of the existing projects rather than starting from scratch -- there's some complex work involved in faithfully remaking a game without the source code, and another project might already have overcome some of these obstacles!
sit2605 on 25/2/2004 at 11:04
Thanks for all your answers.
I am also evaluating the possibility to join existing freeware projects. Fortunately I am not alone, and other my friends are evaluating the possibility to use their spare time for this project. We know also that making it from scratch is very risky, but in some cases our hopes (and hidden ambitions?) can suppress any logic. ;)
I think that my next move will be to contact the ultima underworld adventures team on sourceforge to get some other feedback on the copyright issue.
Again, Thanks to everyone.
somewhere in time
