Antari said:
And thats where your wrong. Yes EA bought Origin Systems, they however did NOT resubmit copyright on either the Ultima Series(With the exception of Ultima Online), Savage Empire, The Wing Commander series, Strike Commander, and Omega. They ARE abandonware. The only thing they haven't done it gone open source.
Also Privateer 2 is the one your thinking about that was developed after the buyout.
First, the Origin sale was September 10th, 1992. The original Privateer was released a year later is September of 1993. Privateer 2 was 1996. Those are both after the buyout. Same with every Wing Commander game other than the first one. Same with Strike Commander.
Savage Empire and a bunch of the early Ultimas came out before the buyout. Though the only part of the IP that Richard Garriot still has rights to is the Lord British character. EA retains the rights to the ultima series itself.
Also you display a fundamental misunderstanding of copyright law. Here are the basics for the US:
Copyright literally means the right to copy.
In the United States, the Library of Congress officialy registers copyrights which now last for the life of the author plus 70 years. No one else can profit or copy your ideas without your permission during this time period.
Your works of art, music, etc, all have copyright protection with or without formal copyright registration with the Library of Congress or any other copyright office. However, copyright registration adds proof of copyright ownership and aids you in fighting copyright infringement.
Like any other property, any or all of the copyright owner's exclusive rights may be transferred. Most often transfers of copyright are made by contract. The transfer of exclusive rights is not valid unless that transfer is in writing and signed by the owner or the owner's lawyer or authorized agent. Transfer of rights on a nonexclusive basis does not require a written agreement.
The Copyright Office does not provide any forms for transfer contracts, you have to provide your own. However, you can make a record the transfer of copyright ownership in the Copyright Office.
Re-registration wasn't required as part of the Sale of Origin to EA. Even if you went down to the copyright office yourself to see if the transfer of rights was registered, It wouldn't matter as long as that transfer was spelled out in the sale contract of Origin to EA.
Also, what would be the point in paying for a company if you didn't also transfer the intelectual property rights along with the sale? It's the IP That is valuable. You can just as easily hire your own staff to make whatever space shooter fantasy rpg clone you feel like. Of course that only matter regarding Privateer if it came out before the buyout, which it didn't so you are still wrong.
It's essential that we don't confuse *TRADEMARK* with copyright.
Trademarks rights must be maintained through actual lawful use of the trademark. These rights will cease if a mark is not actively used for a period of time, normally 5 years in most jurisdictions. In the case of a trademark registration, failure to actively use the mark in the lawful course of trade, or to enforce the registration in the event of infringement, may also expose the registration itself to become liable for an application for the removal from the register after a certain period of time on the grounds of "non-use". It is not necessary for a trademark owner to take enforcement action against all infringement if it can be shown that the owner perceived the infringement to be minor and inconsequential.
Trademarks do run out after non-use. But that doesn't relate to the game content. This has to do with branding. Basically I register my company name as a trademark to prevent someone from releasing a copycat product with the same name. So Electronics arts regregistered the trademark of a bunch of the old ORigin IPS only a year or two ago. All this means is that a different company can't put out a game called Wing COmmander or Ultima even if it's based one an entirely different universe.
