Is there a way to legally get the rights for an old game for instance "Little Samson" or other games made by smaller companies to remake it and sell it or allow people to get it for free? And if not, is it legal to keep it to just yourself after finishing it and not selling it or putting it on the internet for free?
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1\$\begingroup\$ Well, you can purchase the rights... assuming you can find the author of that old game and get the rights to that game's intellectual property in writing from them (ideally as agreed by lawyers on both sides to avoid future issues). You can write whatever software you want on your own system; just make sure it never gets out of your hands (lost disks, hacked system or what have you) or you may be considered to have broken copyright law, assuming it's clear that it was your work; if not, you may be safe. Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer -- you should seek professional advice. \$\endgroup\$– EngineerCommented Aug 10, 2023 at 16:11
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\$\begingroup\$ Does this answer your question? Making a licensed game you want to make \$\endgroup\$– PikalekCommented Aug 10, 2023 at 16:32
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\$\begingroup\$ The "is it legal to just keep it to myself" subquestion seems to covered here. There's a number of posts that address whether or not giving it away for free is okay & the answer is "only if it was yours to begin with." \$\endgroup\$– PikalekCommented Aug 10, 2023 at 16:40
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1\$\begingroup\$ @Engineer I think that's about the best answer we can offer, if you'd like to post it as an answer below. (Maybe with a note that the IP could have changed hands / be held by some unrelated corporate entity by now). I don't think this question is exactly a duplicate of the one Pikalek linked. That one was more focused on current IPs for which commercial sequels/tie-ins might reasonably be expected in the near future, not old seemingly-abandoned IPs which seem to be the focus here. \$\endgroup\$– DMGregory ♦Commented Aug 10, 2023 at 17:36
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\$\begingroup\$ Does this answer your question? How does one buy the rights for a game? \$\endgroup\$– KromsterCommented Aug 11, 2023 at 9:03
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