[Coco] HWGA (was) Coco games copyright

Allen Huffman alsplace at pobox.com
Thu Feb 12 12:16:06 EST 2009 

A few CoCo games have lived on after the CoCo. Color Outhouse was  
supposed to be ported to the PC via someone posting to this list years  
ago, and a few other authors eventually did PC games.

I, too, will be starting iPhone/iPod Touch development soon and plan  
to port some coco projects. Should be fun!

Sent from my iPhone
Follow me on Twitter - http://twitter.com/allenhuffman

On Feb 12, 2009, at 10:36 AM, Ben Jimenez <ben_jimenez at yahoo.com> wrote:

>
> Hi, i'm not sure why I can't see my responses to these post but here  
> goes. The reason I was asking is because I'm starting to develop  
> some games for the Ipod platform and I thought it would be cool to  
> convert some of the Coco games.
>
> I'm developing in Object-C so i'm not sure how easy it would be to  
> do the whole emulator, but making some clones of some good game  
> would help me to get a good start on the platform and keep the coco  
> games going.
>
>
>
> --- On Wed, 2/11/09, John <johnguin at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>> From: John <johnguin at hotmail.com>
>> Subject: Re: [Coco] HWGA (was)  Coco games copyright
>> To: "'CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts'"  
>> <coco at maltedmedia.com>
>> Date: Wednesday, February 11, 2009, 4:55 PM
>> Would it be easier to port MESS or some other emulator and
>> get the entire
>> COCO library in one fell swoop?
>>
>> To be clear, I have NO idea how easy/hard that would be.  I
>> just wanted to
>> ask what was an obvious (to me) question.
>>
>> John
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: coco-bounces at maltedmedia.com
>> [mailto:coco-bounces at maltedmedia.com] On
>> Behalf Of Allen Huffman
>> Sent: Wednesday, February 11, 2009 1:38 PM
>> To: CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts
>> Subject: Re: [Coco] HWGA (was) Coco games copyright
>>
>> Ben, which platform?
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>> Follow me on Twitter - http://twitter.com/allenhuffman
>>
>> On Feb 11, 2009, at 3:33 PM, Ben Jimenez
>> <ben_jimenez at yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> well that more then answers my question. I am think
>> about cloning
>>> some games. I guess I should try to contact the
>> authors once I
>>> determine which one(s) I want to port over to a mobile
>> platform.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --- On Wed, 2/11/09, Joel Ewy <jcewy at swbell.net>
>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> From: Joel Ewy <jcewy at swbell.net>
>>>> Subject: Re: [Coco] HWGA (was)  Coco games
>> copyright
>>>> To: "CoCoList for Color Computer
>> Enthusiasts" <coco at maltedmedia.com>
>>>> Date: Wednesday, February 11, 2009, 1:01 PM
>>>> James Hrubik wrote:
>>>>> Why am I waiting with bated breath, holding my
>> finger
>>>> over the DELETE
>>>>> key...
>>>>>
>>>>> Maybe each newbie should get an email from
>> Dennis with
>>>> something to
>>>>> the effect that discussions of religion,
>> politics, and
>>>> copyrights
>>>>> should be avoided because they are equally
>> likely to
>>>> start flame wars.
>>>>>
>>>>> (Sorry, Joel.  I know you just wanted to help
>> the guy,
>>>> but I can't
>>>>> help thinking you were just trolled.)
>>>>>
>>>> Maybe so.  But I've now said all I have to say
>> on the
>>>> matter, and I
>>>> won't respond to insults or taunts.  Nothing
>> anybody
>>>> can say to me on
>>>> this list can be worse than things I've been
>> told in
>>>> person.
>>>>
>>>> JCE
>>>>> On Feb 11, 2009, at Wednesday, February 11,
>> 2009 -
>>>> 1:51 PM, Joel Ewy
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Ben Jimenez wrote:
>>>>>>> Hello,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I was thinking of converting some Coco
>> games
>>>> over to a new platform,
>>>>>>> but was wondering what the copyright
>> was on
>>>> them now?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> -- 
>>>>>>> Coco mailing list
>>>>>>> Coco at maltedmedia.com
>>>>>>>
>> http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/coco
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>> Copyright is forever.  Well, not quite
>> forever.
>>>> It's the life of the
>>>>>> author plus 70 years plus the amount of
>> time since
>>>> Walt Disney died, or
>>>>>> something like that.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Seriously, it isn't like patents,
>> which expire
>>>> in 17 years.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> There are a number of authors of CoCo
>> games who
>>>> have given permission
>>>>>> for their programs to be distributed for
>> free,
>>>> often with certain
>>>>>> restrictions, such as "you may not
>> charge for
>>>> a copy", etc.  This does
>>>>>> not mean that they have renounced their
>> copyright
>>>> and put the programs
>>>>>> in the public domain, only that they are
>> using
>>>> their copyright to
>>>>>> specify the terms under which their works
>> can be
>>>> copied.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> L. Curtis Boyle has received permission to
>> make
>>>> some of these games
>>>>>> available for download from his web site,
>> and has
>>>> documented the
>>>>>> permissions he has.  Since these authors
>> have
>>>> given some enhanced
>>>>>> permissions for their works, they might be
>>>> amenable to discussing a
>>>>>> port.  You'd just have to get in touch
>> with
>>>> them and see.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Of course, if you're just talking
>> about
>>>> writing your own clone of their
>>>>>> original game, you don't need to get
>> any
>>>> permission or worry about
>>>>>> copyright, unless you directly copy stuff
>> from the
>>>> game, or use
>>>>>> trademarked names and so on.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Now since these things are pretty old, and
>> many of
>>>> the old authors
>>>>>> aren't involved with the CoCo anymore,
>> you
>>>> might get away with just
>>>>>> appropriating it, but of course you'd
>> be doing
>>>> so at the risk that they
>>>>>> would take notice and threaten a lawsuit.
>> How
>>>> likely that would be
>>>>>> would probably depend on how you use it.
>> If you
>>>> are trying to sell
>>>>>> copies of a game that blatantly steals
>> their
>>>> copyrighted materials, they
>>>>>> would probably be more likely to take
>> offense, or
>>>> take action.  If you
>>>>>> do it for fun and give it away for free,
>> and
>>>> position it as a fan paying
>>>>>> tribute to a great game of the past, they
>> may not
>>>> care, and might even
>>>>>> feel honored that their old work has been
>>>> remembered.  On the other
>>>>>> hand, they might still be perfectly within
>> their
>>>> rights to sue you.  Do
>>>>>> so at your own risk.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> One other factor is that for most of these
>>>> programs there's no economic
>>>>>> benefit to be gained from suing you.
>> It's not
>>>> as if you're depriving
>>>>>> them of any significant potential income
>> from
>>>> these 20+ years old
>>>>>> programs.  But for some people it may be a
>> matter
>>>> of principle.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Now, there may be some CoCo games out
>> there that
>>>> are really Open Source,
>>>>>> or something approximating that.  Those
>> you should
>>>> be able to port more
>>>>>> freely.  But for those that aren't you
>> are
>>>> either going to have to
>>>>>> disassemble them or contact the original
>> author
>>>> and see if the source
>>>>>> code is still around.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> JCE
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> -- 
>>>>>> Coco mailing list
>>>>>> Coco at maltedmedia.com
>>>>>>
>> http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/coco
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> -- 
>>>>> Coco mailing list
>>>>> Coco at maltedmedia.com
>>>>> http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/coco
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Coco mailing list
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>>>> http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/coco
>>>
>>> --
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>>
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>
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