defunct publishers - buying rights?

[specialmoose]

Kind of curious. Couple of my favorite games are made by defunct publishers. Wondering, is it possible to buy the rights to game franchises? Anyone ever tried? Obviously, a defunct publisher is going to be hard to track down especially the code. Worth even trying? Thought it would be kind of cool to own rights to a video game.

[TOK]

Given the popularity of 80's game compilations and stuff, it wouldn't surprise me if what you want has already been purchased, even if it hasn't been re-released yet.

Would be interesting to find out the process of doing it though.

[RayB]

Rights to games get sold off when companies go kaput. It can be a nightmare to track down who owns what. You might even find out some guy's ex-wife or widow ended up with rights and doesn't even know it.

[specialmoose]

Well the publisher I'm interested in is Toaplan and the game is Out Zone. Did more research and I'm pretty confident I'm SOL.

[SavannahLion]

Rights to games get sold off when companies go kaput. It can be a nightmare to track down who owns what. You might even find out some guy's ex-wife or widow ended up with rights and doesn't even know it.

That's even if you're lucky. Read up on one of my favorite flicks about a year or two ago. Turned out SciFi channel (or whatever they want to call themselves this week) wanted to do a remake and even contacted the original director/producer. No one knows who owns the copyright to the film and there isn't enough incentive (or money) to do the initial research. But, once someone does do the film or releases it on DVD or whatever, you can bet someone will do the research to figure it out in an attempt to milk royalties. Damned if you do, damned if you don't, I guess.

Too bad, I've been itching to get the original on DVD and I would love to see another cheesy remake. Oh well.

[RayB]

That's even if you're lucky. Read up on one of my favorite flicks about a year or two ago. Turned out SciFi channel (or whatever they want to call themselves this week) wanted to do a remake and even contacted the original director/producer. No one knows who owns the copyright to the film and there isn't enough incentive (or money) to do the initial research. But, once someone does do the film or releases it on DVD or whatever, you can bet someone will do the research to figure it out in an attempt to milk royalties. Damned if you do, damned if you don't, I guess.

Too bad, I've been itching to get the original on DVD and I would love to see another cheesy remake. Oh well.

Yeah but one approach I've heard of (and *this is not legal advice, I am not a lawyer*) is to do the due diligence, keep paperwork proving you did due diligence (that would mean hiring a lawyer) and then you proceed anyways, but set aside royalties based on industry averages for the eventual copyright owner when they finally appear. *Did I mention I am not a lawyer and this is only something i've heard* ?