Transport Tycoon Forums

ZxBiohazardZx wrote:if im right (and i might not be) but wouldn't chris like to see that ppl still play games like his first game ttd, and try to improve it themselfs?

he and his team are busy on locomotion and other games, so unless someone dares to ask him personal/his company if the thing we are doing is illegal, we might as well stop this discussion and try to finish the nice graphics:)

This is most likely the case, if I recall correctly, Chris Sawyer does not want to openly support anything that could fall in the category of 'hacking' but he likes what people are doing with his old game. Anyone interested could do some digging in these forums, there have been dozens of threads about this subject and some contain actual evidence and correspondence with Chris Sawyer, the creator of Transport Tycoon. The legal rights to the game have been (vaguely) tracked to Atari I think, but when they were contacted they couldn't confirm if they owned the rights. (who figured that out? wasn't it orudge?)

Also, if there would ever be any plans of commercially exploiting ottd (in whatever form), there would probably be a producing company involved who would then buy the rights from Atari (or whoever owns them) before actually doing anything.

Chris Sawyer doesn't have a team either. He works on his games alone, and uses freelance contracts for graphics and music. Even years into the future, when OTTD has its own music and graphics, it could still be sued as its a derivative of reverse engineered code.

Korenn is right, Chris Sawyer said in an interview that he "can’t condone anything which modifies games, but I do admire the ingenuity and talent of the individuals who work on such things." (Tycoonplanet.com interview)

richk67 wrote:However, copyright in the US has to be registered (and I think regularly re-registered) or else its use is deemed open.

This isn't true, unfortunately. Registration makes it easier to defend, but like most countries in the world, copyright is granted automatically to the creator in the United States. Re-registration is never necessary.

http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-g ... tml#mywork

The registration thing is true of trademarks, mind - and people often get copyright and trademark law muddled.

So what protection from copyright and reverse engineering does TTD actually have.

The license I found in the manual states:

"This manual, accompanying documentation and disks are copyrighted. The owner of this product is
entitled to use this product for his or her personal use. Except for back-up copies of the disks for personal
use and the quoting of brief passages for the purposes of reviews, no one may transfer, copy, back-up,
give or sell any part of the manual or the information on the disks, or transmit in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the
publisher. Any person or persons reproducing any part of this program, in any media, for any reason,
shall be guilty of copyright violation and shall be subject to civil liability at the discretion of the copyright
holder."

which is kinda bullcrap, since the first thing the amiga 600 manual tells you to do is COPY every disk you get as a backup, and use the copy, and keep the original safe.

Everyone has right to make a copy of a disk for personal purposes (=backup, emergency copy).

Disk protection violates this law, but crackers overuse this law to break the other laws, so this may be a reason of hardware/software disk protection and several notices not to copy the disk.

But actually, everyone can copy his disk, but not redistribute it. So making buch of copies of SimCity is law allowed, but spreading those copies/using some of the software's content is illegal

WHAT WORKS ARE PROTECTED?
Copyright protects "original works of authorship" that are fixed in a tangible form of expression. The fixation need not be directly perceptible so long as it may be communicated with the aid of a machine or device. Copyrightable works include the following categories:

literary works;
musical works, including any accompanying words
dramatic works, including any accompanying music
pantomimes and choreographic works
pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works
motion pictures and other audiovisual works
sound recordings
architectural works
These categories should be viewed broadly. For example, computer programs and most "compilations" may be registered as "literary works"; maps and architectural plans may be registered as "pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

WHAT IS NOT PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT?
Several categories of material are generally not eligible for federal copyright protection. These include among others:

Works that have not been fixed in a tangible form of expression (for example, choreographic works that have not been notated or recorded, or improvisational speeches or performances that have not been written or recorded)

Titles, names, short phrases, and slogans; familiar symbols or designs; mere variations of typographic ornamentation, lettering, or coloring; mere listings of ingredients or contents

Ideas, procedures, methods, systems, processes, concepts, principles, discoveries, or devices, as distinguished from a description, explanation, or illustration

Works consisting entirely of information that is common property and containing no original authorship (for example: standard calendars, height and weight charts, tape measures and rulers, and lists or tables taken from public documents or other common sources)

TRANSFER OF COPYRIGHT
Any or all of the copyright owner's exclusive rights or any subdivision of those rights may be transferred, but the transfer of exclusive rights is not valid unless that transfer is in writing and signed by the owner of the rights conveyed or such owner's duly authorized agent. Transfer of a right on a nonexclusive basis does not require a written agreement.

A copyright may also be conveyed by operation of law and may be bequeathed by will or pass as personal property by the applicable laws of intestate succession.

Copyright is a personal property right, and it is subject to the various state laws and regulations that govern the ownership, inheritance, or transfer of personal property as well as terms of contracts or conduct of business. For information about relevant state laws, consult an attorney.

Transfers of copyright are normally made by contract. The Copyright Office does not have any forms for such transfers. The law does provide for the recordation in the Copyright Office of transfers of copyright ownership. Although recordation is not required to make a valid transfer between the parties, it does provide certain legal advantages and may be required to validate the transfer as against third parties. For information on recordation of transfers and other documents related to copyright, request Circular 12, "Recordation of Transfers and Other Documents."


so if someone can get the approval of the original owner then we are kinda safe.....

ZxBiohazardZx wrote:so if someone can get the approval of the original owner then we are kinda safe.....

well duh. But Atari were contacted by eis_os and they said they didn't own the rights, or at least they weren't for sale.

Note: I didn't read this thread, but I was mentioned here, so:

Someone (can't remember who) asked Atari , they didn't try to even bother finding it out.


In 2004/05 I got this message:

Atari wrote:I received your inquiry regarding the purchase of Transport Tycoon Deluxe, both the source code and Trade name. This title and source code is not available for sale or sub-license. Thank you for your interest, however.

My plan was to initiate a Blender like Foundation to buy the rights....

hmm. How long ago was that now? They may have changed their policy, with Locomotion not being as successful as it could have been.

Just out of curiosity, how much would it cost to buy something like that?

It can't be too high. Who would want a game from 1995? Most games from that era are either dead or open sourced.

Born Acorn wrote:It can't be too high. Who would want a game from 1995? Most games from that era are either dead or open sourced.

indeed and ill look it up but unless chris asked for the rights (and not just randomly put the copyright mark for his name there) its free to use, just start a quest for the rights:-P