copyright status
Posted: March 4th, 2022, 4:50 pm
Someone asked me via email about the copyright status of PoP1. What I answered:
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The original Prince of Persia game (1989 Apple II, 1990 DOS) is not freeware. Maybe its demo package (2 levels only) was. Even as freeware, the demo package is proprietary software, which means no freedom to modify/share modifications, create remakes, etc. However, our modding community considers the original game abandonware. This means the copyright is still in place, but the owner does not enforce related rights, because the game (currently) has no commercial value. If I'm not mistaken, Ubisoft has exclusive rights to create new entries in the franchise, but Jordan Mechner still has copyright of Prince of Persia otherwise. He has published the source code of the original Apple II game. And he has frequently publicly shown his approval of remakes and remasters. I'm not in a position to give you the go-ahead when it comes to creating a remake in Unreal, but my assessment is that it's unlikely you'll get in trouble doing so. For more information about abandonware, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abandonware
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The original Prince of Persia game (1989 Apple II, 1990 DOS) is not freeware. Maybe its demo package (2 levels only) was. Even as freeware, the demo package is proprietary software, which means no freedom to modify/share modifications, create remakes, etc. However, our modding community considers the original game abandonware. This means the copyright is still in place, but the owner does not enforce related rights, because the game (currently) has no commercial value. If I'm not mistaken, Ubisoft has exclusive rights to create new entries in the franchise, but Jordan Mechner still has copyright of Prince of Persia otherwise. He has published the source code of the original Apple II game. And he has frequently publicly shown his approval of remakes and remasters. I'm not in a position to give you the go-ahead when it comes to creating a remake in Unreal, but my assessment is that it's unlikely you'll get in trouble doing so. For more information about abandonware, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abandonware
