Subject: Re: copyright question
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Date: Wed, 19 Jul 2000 09:19:08 -0400
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Intelligoth <no@spam.thanks> writes in mesage
<EGN1OYktFScotJukVbyRfCtMYgwT@4ax.com>:

>What happens to the copyright/license status of a software title if
>the company who owned the rights no longer exists.  For example, Epyx
>or Gebelli, who produced Apple II games but are no longer around.  Who
>then owns the copyright?


This is one of those "it depends" situations. The relevent parts of the
US Copyright are included below:

---------------------------------
From Circular 92: Copyright Law of the United States of America
Contained in Title 17 of the United States Code

Chapter 2
Copywrite Ownership and Transfer

Section 201
OWNERSHIP OF COPYRIGHT

parargraph (a)
INITIAL OWNERSHIP. - Copyright in a work protected under this title
vests initially in the author or authors of the work. The authors of a
joint work are co-owner of copyright in the work.

paragraph (b)
WORKS MADE FOR HIRE. - In the case of a work made for hire, the
employer or other person for whom the work was prepared is
considered the author for purposes of this title, and, unless the
parties have expressly agreed otherwise in a written instrument
signed by them, owns all of the rights comprised in the copyright.

----------------------------
         <snip>  (We'll come back to paragraph (b) in a few moments)
----------------------------

paragraph (d)
TRANSFER OF OWNERSHIP. -
subsection (1)
The ownership of a copyright may be transferred in whole or in part
by any means of conveyance or by the operation of law, and may
be bequeathed by will or pass as personal property by the applicable
laws of intestate succession.

Section 203
TERMINATION OF TRANSFERS AND LICENCES GRANTED BY
THE AUTHOR

paragraph (a)
CONDITIONS FOR TERMINATION. - In the case of any work other
than a work made for hire, the exclusive or nonexclusive grant of
a transfer or a license of copyright or of any right under a copyright,
executed by the author on or after January 1, 1978, otherwise than
by will, is subject to termination under the following conditions:

----------------------------------
       <snip conditions> (notice the words "other than a work made for hire")
----------------------------------

paragraph (b)
EFFECT OF TERMINATION. - Upon the effective date of termination,
all rights under this title that were covered by the terminated grants
revert to the author, authors, and other persons owning termination
interest ... yada yada <snip>

----------------------------
I am not a lawyer but who owns the copyright after the publisher
goes out of business would depend on the original contract
between the author and the publisher and therefore can be
subject to the local laws of contracts.   If the author made an
agreement that he/she/they would retain (at least) part of the
copyright then the copyright reverts to him/her/them. If the work
was done solely for hire then the original author has no rights
in the work at all and it would depend on the laws of the locality
to determine what happens to the copyright (most likely, if the
publisher was bought the copyright is now owned by the new
company. If the company was incorporated, and this is
extremely local specific, then it is not clear who owns the
copyright if the company went defunct and was not bought. If
the company was a sole proprietorship then the former
owner still owns the copyright, unless it was transferred in
writing back to the original author.) And don't forget that
there may have been court ruling interpreting exactly what
happens, but I'm not going to web search any of that, and
leave that as an excercise for the OP. ;o)

Outside of the United States, you'll have to look at the local
copyright law.
--
Eric <chippys@earthlink.net>