Breaking: U.S. Copyright Office considering exemption for abandoned online games

"Last year, several organizations, including the non-profit Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment, filed a request that the U.S. Copyright Office broaden its exceptions to include online games that have been shut down by their publishers. These would include MMORPGs such as Star Wars Galaxies and City of Heroes. Both of those game still have passionate fanbases, but they are no longer playable due to the fact that the servers shut down several years ago."

Full article here: https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/online-games-dmca-exemption/amp/

Perhaps my wish for these game systems may come to fruition as they are copyrighted? Who knows

 

This would be so great! It's a shame games like SWG just disappear

 

Mh the news headlines I read yesterday evening said they missed the mark and what ever they decided in the end wasn't worth the effort.
Didnt deed dive into it so the news I saw might be wrong.

 

This is not just about resuscitating dead games in their entirety but the systems within that are copyrighted as well. There is, for sure, intellectual property on individual components in games that cannot currently be adopted because of this, like the example I used above in my original post.

I'm not really sure how that works, however there is a strong case for a lawsuit for creating similar systems in a game, for example, allowing harvesters to pull resources from the ground on public land like in SWG or realm vs realm PVP like in DAoC and Warhammer.

 

Thanks for explaining.
That would be really nice if something like that would be possible in the future.

 

If it is provable that the operation is no loner financialy solvent it absolves the games' publisher of any legal liability.

That said, the fact that these issues get raised at all goes to show the depths of player participation and involvement (with energy and effort which translate into real and tangible as well as emotional resources). Developers and publishers would do well to take these into consideration and honor them accordingly: dignity is a high bar in business but those whom make an account of it are better for it.

 

SWG has been up and running at https://www.swgemu.com/forums/index.php for at least 3-4 years, they've had to work their butts off re-writing code for it though.

 

yeah we can expect a few emulators to pop around, great news

 

Thanks Alleine, that's good news news

Birko exists in this EMU, but still a pup.
You do need the original discs to join.
If anyone is about in this SWG, give me a yell. "Birko" as per usual.
I mapped the worlds over a decade ago. Will dig them out when I can be bothered.

 

If I remember correctly the SWG devs had just finished work on a atmospheric flight option before the entire project was canned. The presentation of the atmospheric flight had a ship flying over Tatoine with a Star Destroyer above.

It coulda been what Battlefront was trying to be... But gud.