Forum Moderators: not2easy
Best to contact the companies involved and ask for permission, I think.
Even ones where the company might not no longer exist.
That doesn't mean that no one owns them. Very few companies simply go out of existence without their assets--including rights to old games--being acquired by some other company.
You can't assume that those old games are now in the public domain. The rights to them may in fact be owned by a large and aggressive company, who will come after you if you try to profit from those materials.
Do some research, find the new owners, contact them. And good luck!
You can't assume that those old games are now in the public domain
I am not talking about selling old games or even having old games. Just, old game demos. I suppose they must come with a license, i'll just have to dig through them. I was just hoping someone on here might have direct experience with this.
I'm sorry I don't meet your criteria of direct experience, but copyright is copyright. I have considerable experience in book-related copyright and many of the same principles apply.
So proceed cautiously, or, better yet, consult an attorney with intellectual property experience.
The copyright info should really be somewhere on the demo software itself I would guess. for me, people pushing my "demo" games is great - it is when people try to push a free or cheap version of the paid product that I get upset.
I'd be inclined to agree with the notion that
"I can't imagine why a company would be against you pushing and promoting their free game demos."
But always, the question is whether the game owner is getting what they assumed to be getting out of this. In UK law (I am not a lawyer... get prpfessional advice... etc), copyright theft has to come to the conclusion that you - in some way - have reduced the income or reputation that the owner may have recieved or gained in some way at their expense. I think the "reputation" bit is the thing you should consider mostly.
Here is an example of a potentially upset owner: EA Games builds a game, then give .net magazine an exclusive to give a free demo on their cover. Then you use the demo. .net magazine gets upset, so EA Games gets upset - especially if they see their demo on a site that they did not want their brand associated with.
At the end of the day then - the other posters are right - the demo is the copyright of the owner. If he doesn't want you to use it, take it down quick. If you think you are geniunely only doing him/her favours... and if you really ARE only doing him/her favours, then be reasonable in checking you have permission but don't feel you need signed agreement from everyone to make the link.
Dixon.
then be reasonable in checking you have permission but don't feel you need signed agreement from everyone to make the link.
Recep, thanks for backing me up, and giving some more detail.
And be sure to make a good faith effort to track down the current owners of games produced by defunct companies. If you can't find anyone, say so, and state that you will respond to the current owners if they contact you.
