WHAT ABANDONWARE IS
- The definition of abandonware
Abandonware is defined as any PC or console game that is:
- At least four years old
- Not being sold or supported by the company that produced
it or by any other company. When a certain piece of
Abandonware is later found to be sold or supported by
a company, then it ceases to be Abandonware.
- Why abandonware is technically software piracy
According to U.S. Law and International Treaties, a copyright
belongs to the author of a software product for 70 years
beyond the life of the author or 95 years after the copyright
date if the work is done by a corporation or anonymous source.
Before that time expires, nobody (except the author) has
the right to copy that piece of software.
- Why abandonware should not be considered piracy by Walt Crawford
When the U.S. was young a copyright lasted 14 years, renewable
only once if the author was still living. Between the nation's
founding and 1909, only one term extension took place. In
1909 the term was doubled to 28 years. However corporations
still felt it was too short. So in 1976 Congress changed
the copyright to a remarkably long and unpredictable term:
Life of the author plus 50 years - and, for works made for
hire (corporation) a generous 75 years.
Under corporate copyright, the earliest Michey Mouse cartoon
would have entered the public domain 75 years after the
first cartoon's release, in 2004. Thus, Congress passed
the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA) in 1998,
which extended both forms of copyright 20 years (70 years
for an author, 95 years for a corporation). Is there anyone
who believes that the Disney Corporation won't push for
another 20 year extension in 2018 - or that Conress won't
pass it?
A good example of the problems this is already causing is
going on right now in the movie industry. Dacaying nitrate-based
film from the early days of motion pictures may not be restored
because Moviecraft and other companies that restore and
reissue these movies can't do so because they can't identify
the copyright holders and the movies seem to never pass
into the public domain. Preservation activities in general,
and particularly digital preservation activities, are made
more difficult when material never enters the public domain.
This is why we have abandonware. If these games are not
shared and preserved now do you think anyone will have a
copy of IBM's Alley Cat in 2079 when it's copyright expires?
For more information on the fight to bring common sense
back to copyright laws check out www.eldred.cc
- What is NOT abandonware
Software that is either:
- Less than four years old
- Still sold and/or supported by a company
- How something ceases to be abandonware
When a software company decides that they are going to start
selling or supporting an old games again.
- The history of abandonware
Back in February 1997, Peter Ringering and Ben (from Israel)
noticed that there was no software or support out there
for people with old computers. So, he set up his Oldie Computer
Site and Ben set up the Classic Gaming Archive. Other people
(like Jou and Mattijs) saw it and decided to join in and
so they set up their sites. Then they all decided to work
together and pool their resources so that they could accomplish
a lot more.
In March, Peter set up the Abandonware Ring Central (now
just Abandonware Ring). He stepped down a few months later
and I (Swizzle) quickly took over. From there on out a lot
of people came and a lot of people have left. But we've
all worked hard to bring you what you see today.
- Here is a list of articles available online that have
been written about abandonware.
CanadaComputes.com
"Thieves or saviours? Abandonware roosts in legal battleground"
Cnet.com
"Abandoware Pirates"
Elpais.es
"El movimiento 'abandonware' no cree que liberar programas antiguos dañe a la industria" (Spanish)
Gamespot
"Flashbacks for free: The skinny on Abandonware"
MobyGames
"Abandonware in a nushell - why nobody wins"
New
York Times "Out of print Computer Games"
Tech
TV "Abandonware Free For All"
The
Adventure Collective "Abandonwarez: The pros outweigh the cons"
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