Kahle v. AshcroftMy Favorite Computer Game Hidden behind apathetic copyright laws
originally submitted by Eric Bambach:
An old computer game for the PC: Total Annihilation, was wildly sucessful when it was first released many years ago. Now the original company, Cavedog Entertainment, has been swallowed up by a much larger company, Infogrames. In this process, the copyright, and the original work has been locked away. There is even a petition to the copyright holder to release the source at http://p075.ezboard.com/ftateamforeverfrm6?page=4.
To my knowledge, this game is not in print and is no longer making the parent company any money. The holder of the copyright turns a deaf ear to
to the remaining members of the Total Annihilation community because they have very little to profit from by releasing this work of genious into the public domain.
Stifled uses
Eric Bambach:
Me, and many many other fans who share the same passion or even obsession with this game see its shortcomings compared to modern games and would like to improve the graphics, fix bugs, and generally re-vitalize the once bustling community around this game. If the source code for this program was released, then I know many people who would jump on the chance to create derivitate and improved works. The game also lacks support for modern operating systems. As technology progresses, I would love to see this game be carried along in a compatible and playable format. Without the source code, the last released version remains frozen for windows 98 and optimized for computers 8-10 years ago.