On 9/25/06, Dennis Schridde <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
(*) Except FMV and music..."
*******************************************************************************
You should add a note here explaining what FMV means (Full Motion Video).
The archive was put together by Alex McLean (as far as I know)
("as far as we know")
source was released under the GPL. This leaves the question about the data.
Is "as is with no guarantees" some kind of license itself (ie. can we just
assume an implicit "... and any restrictions" after that)?
"... and no restrictions"
Parts of the game are implemented in a scripting language. Is that source or
data?
"... in a scripting language, with script files loaded and interpreted
by the game code written in C."
The release was intended as a present to the fan community, so there was no
intention of keeping anything closed (except for a few code parts like the
movie codec, sound and networking which were licensed, and the music and
movies themselves, probably just for size reasons).
"The release was intended as a present to the fan community, so we
believe that there was no intention of keeping anything closed, except
that which was necessary because of third party rights. There were
third party rights parts of the code (movie codec, sound and
networking), and to the music sound track, both of which were omitted.
The movie files were also omitted, although we believe this was
because they thought we could not play them (legally or otherwise)
without the source to the movie codec."
(The sound track on the CD is from a published album, IIRC.)
ex-Pumpkins and they inturn have liberated it". Is this possible? So now we
have to contact them for any clarifications on the license? Does it make sense
to contact Eidos on that matter? (Not that they'd have answered any past
inquiries; they have been bought by SCi, and at least Jonathan Kemp isn't
employed there anymore, so it might be quite difficult to reach someone
knowledgeable on this matter.)
Replace by: "They have not answered any past inquiries; they have been
bought by ..."
(ie drop the questions here, and remove the paranthesis around the last fact)
This is all quite frustrating, since several members of the fan community have
stated that the intention of the release was to free the game and it's
probably just an unlucky wording of the readme.txt. I am quite sure there will
be no legal action against us (there's no indication anyone will bother, and
with the frequent inquiries, they must be quite aware of our project), we just
need a legal clarification for Distributions to be able to include Warzone
(and for hosting the game on gna.org, though they haven't complained yet).
It is irrelevant what the fan community have stated. I suggest the
entire paragraph above is dropped. Your own musings about what you
think is probable is all beside the point.
2. Is there a way to distribute the game data without further word of the
copyright holders?
"2. Is there a way to legally distribute the game data without further
word from the copyright holders?"
3. Is it possible for Eidos to transfer the copyright of the game to the
Ex-Pumpkin employees to do as they please?
Of course it is. (Unless you are German, in which case you only
transfer commercial rights, but I digress.) I suggest instead: "3. How
can we best ensure that the possible legal ambiguity of the license
does not threaten or opens up to lawsuits the project and anyone who
distributes our builds of the game?"
4. If so, what proof of that is necessary and who has that?
5. Does it make sense to try to contact Eidos on this matter?
6. Any other possible solutions? How shall we proceed?
Drop these. If they think of anything, they will mention it. We have
contacted Eidos, as you stated above. We should not ask them to
instruct us, as they may not want to get into that position. Getting
some general advice, and getting legal advice on a very specific
matter and being told what to do, is, I think, two very different
matters for them.
Thanks for your help, and if you have any further questions, don't hesitate to
contact me.
You should give them your phone number too.
I, along with a very active Warzone 2100 community, await any response
you are able to offer
... and are thankful for any advice you can provide.
Otherwise, great!
- Per
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