Carcassonne for PC - legal questions

[mjharper]

Might sound like a dumb question, but is anyone  around here up on the legal issues surrounding out-of-print games? I mean, on the official site it says that the game won't be available after 01.01.2006. So how would they feel if we distributed copies?

Or are we likely to get in big trouble for that?

[canada steve]

Likely to get in big trouble if you charge for them Matt. And also you would get into trouble for breach of copyright, which can be from 5 to 25 years depending on how greedy said company is, as you would be copying their product. If you could get confirmation that copyright no longer applies for an item then you give it away for free but charge over the odds for shipping to cover costs and that way they cant have you for charging for the actual game.

Thanks Matt for opening the new topic.

[mjharper]

What I was thinking was this: I have the Collector's Box. What if I extracted the data and made a zip, then put it in the downloads section. No money changes hands. Am I likely to get in big trouble for that? Would I just get a warning to begin with, and told to remove the file or else?

Or should I write to Koch Media and ask if we could post it as form of sponsorship? Would they just laugh?

[mjharper]

Just did a google search for "carcassonne download" and about the eighth item is a torrent of the collectors box. If it's that easy to find, how much trouble would we get into?

And a search for "carcassonne collector's box download" is even worse!

I'm really thinking that I might try writing to them an ask if we could host a legal version for members only as sponsorship. Never know 'til you try…

[mjharper]

Right, here's what I have so far:

––––––––––
I am writing to you on behalf of www.carcassonnecentral.com to enquire about the game "Carcassonne: Collector's Box." I understand that, since 1.1.2006, this game is no longer on sale, and also that it is also no longer available for commercial download from Softunity. However, within the Carcassonne community, there is still a demand for this product, as can clearly be seen from a google search for "carcassonne collector's box download", which yields several bit-torrents of the game.

I would like to enquire whether you would permit us to host a digital copy of the game on our website, freely available to our members, firstly as a legal alternative to bit-torrent downloads, and secondly in sponsorship of our website, naturally with ensuing advertising space.

Carcassonne Central is a recent site which encompasses forums, puzzles, news and FAQ dedicated to the game of Carcassonne. The FAQ section of the site, which has been in existence since 2005, has a link on the official Carcassonne website. We aim to provide the most comprehensive Carcassonne resource on the internet. Membership is free, and we offer a password-protected download area to members.

I would naturally understand if copyright issues prevented us from hosting your game. It would be a shame, however, in the light of the number of (I assume illegal)bit-torrents available, if some legal alternative could not be found.
––––––––––

Does that sound okay? Comments please!

[Tobias]

That'll work. The worst case scenario is that they'll say "no".

[Wishmaster]

You can always try! It's a well crafted letter/mail as well. I'm pretty certain they will say no. I think when Microsoft got hold of it they took up the rights to the game and it's probably them who now hold the copyright to the existing games... pretty certain they won't agree!

None the less - Go for it, there is nothing to loose and possibly something big to gain. I'd really love you to succeed as I really want the Collector's box version....

   

[Gantry]

I would mention that we're a not-for-profit site, all the millions of dollars that members pay in outrageous fees goes straight into fast cars and mansions... errr ... yeah just not-for-profit, we want to hilight the fact that we're seriously in this for fun not money.

[mjharper]

Okay, I changed "Carcassonne Central is a recent site" to "Carcassonne Central is a recently-extablished non-profit fan site", and sent the mail to Koch Media in Germany and the UK. So now we just have to wait and see…

[canada steve]

Looks good Matt. I would have been tempted to include some sort of sweetner to the company in the form of free advertising, but if they actually have no interest in the game anymore then it wont do them that much good.

I know what you mean about the amount of free downloads out there, most I wouldnt trust with a barge pole, but you do find that if the company can be bothered, and in this case if Microsoft own the PC rights to the game, then they will eventually aquire a desist order on them.

Hope that Koch come back on a positive note.

By the way do you know the website www.carcassonne-online.de as they have downloads but I cant read german 

[mjharper]

Looks good Matt. I would have been tempted to include some sort of sweetner to the company in the form of free advertising, but if they actually have no interest in the game anymore then it wont do them that much good.

Did that 

By the way do you know the website www.carcassonne-online.de as they have downloads but I cant read german 

Yeah, that's the old official site. They still have downloads for updates, but not the game itself.

Fingers crossed…

[mjharper]

As we thought:

Dear Matthew

Thank you for your request.

Weiss, we have a very faithful Community me. The desire for our game is still big, too. Unfortunately, we do not see any possibility of offering our game on a legal way furthermore. The reason is simple: Microsoft has purchased the worldwide rights. (For some days the Carcassonne game has been available live on XBOX now.)   

I am not sorry to be able to give any better notification.

With best regards

No reply from the UK branch - maybe they'll have a different response

[mjharper]

And I just sent an adapted version of the text to Microsoft's Xbox contact email. So all hope is not lost…

[GameJunkieJim]

And I just sent an adapted version of the text to Microsoft's Xbox contact email. So all hope is not lost…

It's not lost, but don't get them up either. Microsoft is not known for it's generosity, and the finance department will likely see that as a potential loss of sales for the XBox Live arcade game.

They shut down Halogen, a Command and Conquer Generals mod that skinned the game with Halo figures, because it would potentially harm sales of Halo Wars.

[Wishmaster]

Well, if you don't ask - You don't get.... that said, I'm not at all surprised and I doubt Microsoft will give a better reply - if any at all. Bother!!