Old C64 Games

Denmark
September 17, 2007 1:52pm CST
THere's a lot of old games you can download all over the place. Anyone know what sort of rules apply to those games? Is it legal to sell and distribute them!? Who own the copyright, if there's any!?
1 response
@Taskr36 (13963)
• United States
20 Sep 07
I would think selling them is illegal since you don't have the copyright. Downloading and distributing them for free shouldn't be an issue though since they are abandonware as mentioned.
• Denmark
20 Sep 07
Well if there's no copyright then it's not illegal to sell them :-) Or at least charge a fee for the distribustion. I'm just trying to determine if the games are copyrighted or not.
@Taskr36 (13963)
• United States
20 Sep 07
I don't think you get it. YOU don't own the copyright. YOU don't have the right to sell or distribute it. There is a copyright, and legally you can't sell or distribute them. Many people still distribute them because the original copyright holders aren't selling them and therefore can't really sue for losses. However, if the copyright holder orders those people to cease and desist, they must cease distribution or face legal consequences. If you actually sell these games for money, you can be sued since you profited from the illegal distribution of these games. All that aside, who would buy the games form you when there are so many sites distributing them for free?