Does anyone know if there is an official repository that lists games officially declared public domain by their respecitive rights holders and lists official shareware/freeware - ie titles that companies have released to the public for play/swap but still retain commercial rights to?

I'm trying to get a better handle on what's what in this area and though I've found susinct definitions of the copyright law in the abstract and isolated examples of games where right's holders have explicitly granted public domain status, I don't find a central authority or repository that lists the official status of most games.

To date, a fair number of rights holders in the out-of-print realm have officially gone on record in this regard and such a resource might be helpfull in tempering the extremes in the debate over 'abandonware', or at least give it some kind of objective backdrop. 

hmmm... lots of looks, no replies must = no..

I guess it's nearly impossible to keep track of all game rights

I wouldn't be surprised that some of the larger corporations don't know exactly which rights they hold exactly, especially with companies like EA that have aquired lots of other smaller ones

Originally Posted By markornikov (23 AUG 2012 8:13am)

I guess it's nearly impossible to keep track of all game rights

....but us laymen have no right to determine who the copyright holders are or if a particular game is "abandonware."  It is just plain Stealing.  Beginning of rant:  .....I know of an Uploader who steals not just old classic games, but current games that affect the developer's opportuntity to make a living.  But what really annoys me is that he prances around like he's part of and a big supporter of the Adventure Community.  If that were the case, he would not steal but support those whose huge efforts provide great entertainment. 

end of rant

There are developers who have gone public and said that their old games are officially freeware now.  I just read about one or two in reviews over at AG.  However, I don't think there is a single list of them anywhere.  As Marko said, many game rights are in legal limbo because they've been sold and resold and no one knows what they have.

There needs to be a independent, definitive confirmation source, that can be trusted, before I would just "take" a game.  The only way a Developer can declare his game's status has change to "freeware" is if he is also the Publisher.  Even still, with GOG's big catalog and adding more every day, there should be plenty of "old" classic games to play for quite a period of time.

My rant was concerning more "recent" copyrighted games being stolen by Uploaders to warez sites by professed supporters of the Adventure game genre.

I agree with your rant, Bonsai.  I remember that in less than a week of being available for sale, one of Cindy Pondillo's games was being offered for sale on an illigitimate site.  It is very discouraging to developers to have their hard work treated with such distain.  It's a wonder that any games get made at all.

To jump back in I found a few good leads over at VOGONS a while ago. In fact they aren't too hard to find since the issue is interesting enough to have motivated a small community to do precisely that - catalog freeware games. It's only a start but showing promise. 

Personally I am untroubled by the exchange of old OOP games, either in digital or physical form, a natural behavior on par with gift-giving or second hand markets in general. Many were the times I photocopied magazine articles or taped music or TV shows and the purist attack seems too acedemic and overwrought to me, since...

*Piracy* is the main problem and the reason we're talking about this to begin with.