[mythtv-users] mythgame

[Michael T. Dean]

Boyd II, Willy wrote:

>There are also perfectly legal, formerly copyrighted games that are
>simply old enough to be in the public domain.
>  
>
Actually--at least in the US--Congress keeps extending the length of 
copyrights to prevent Disney's "Steamboat Willie" (the first Disney 
animated film to feature Mickey Mouse)--which was released on November 
18, 1928--from becoming public domain.  Since few (if any ;) video games 
existed before November, 1928, it's not a matter of the games being "old 
enough" to be in the public domain.

Instead, some conscientious video game companies that own copyrights on 
certain games felt that the games were "old enough" that they wouldn't 
make any more money from it, so they released the games to the public 
domain (basically relinquishing the copyright).  Unfortunately, with the 
dawn of "embedded gaming" (gaming on cell phones, PDA's, and other 
resource-constrained devices), many of the "old" games are coming back 
as new, so it is unlikely that any games that haven't already been 
released to public domain will be released in the near future (if ever, 
for that matter).

(I know this is what you meant, but I wanted to clarify it for anyone 
else reading the lists.  :)

Mike