It’s conservation. Archeology is digging up what was once lost.
So finding a lost video game is archeology. Keeping it safe is conservation.
Ensuring games can’t be lost in the first place and that they continue to work in the future is preservation.
My hot take is all abandonware media should legally become file-share friendly after a certain amount of time being out of print, say 15 or 20 years. The original rights holder still maintains copyright, but if they are no longer publishing that work, and therefore no longer making sales, anyone can fileshare it for free in its original form. If the owner then republishes it, it stops being file share friendly. But there have to be caveats, like Nintendo can’t publish 2 copies of an old game every 15 years for like $500 a copy and say it’s still published. It has to be sold at a reasonable price.
I mean, copyright was supposed to be limited to 20 years, same as patents. I don’t think we would need anything else if we went back to that. There is no reason for copyright to last about a century like it does now.
Then how would Disney make money if they didnt continue being able to sell 70 year old movies at full price??? Stop being such a greedy asshole Dreamlsnd!!! Disney needs to make a reasonable income, and public domain was always a silly idea.
This reminds me of when a couple of
lost Doctor Who episodes were found but the owner was nervous to share them with the BBC because he feared confiscation and/or prosecution. I don’t know what happened with that story.
It’s conservation. Archeology is digging up what was once lost.
So finding a lost video game is archeology. Keeping it safe is conservation.
Ensuring games can’t be lost in the first place and that they continue to work in the future is preservation.
All needed, but different things.
My hot take is all abandonware media should legally become file-share friendly after a certain amount of time being out of print, say 15 or 20 years. The original rights holder still maintains copyright, but if they are no longer publishing that work, and therefore no longer making sales, anyone can fileshare it for free in its original form. If the owner then republishes it, it stops being file share friendly. But there have to be caveats, like Nintendo can’t publish 2 copies of an old game every 15 years for like $500 a copy and say it’s still published. It has to be sold at a reasonable price.
I mean, copyright was supposed to be limited to 20 years, same as patents. I don’t think we would need anything else if we went back to that. There is no reason for copyright to last about a century like it does now.
Then how would Disney make money if they didnt continue being able to sell 70 year old movies at full price??? Stop being such a greedy asshole Dreamlsnd!!! Disney needs to make a reasonable income, and public domain was always a silly idea.
Ok, truth, but I will still call it preventive archeology…
This reminds me of when a couple of lost Doctor Who episodes were found but the owner was nervous to share them with the BBC because he feared confiscation and/or prosecution. I don’t know what happened with that story.