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CoyoteComrade

Is Doom Abandonware?

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No,cause doom was released in 12/1993,and will only end its copyright after 75-90 years(us laws)(and might be renewed further after that)

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Abandonware is most correctly defined as "games that are illegal to distribute for free, but the people who hold the rights to it don't care enough to crack down on it." It's not actually a legal distinction.

 

Which is to say, a game that is still being sold by its original distributor and likely will be for years to come is as far, far, far as you can get from abandonware. Age has absolutely nothing to do with it.

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5 minutes ago, dmg_64 said:

It's not abandonware until the developer stops distributing it, this includes digital stores.

This is completely wrong; a developer that is no long distributing a product can still legally fight against the piracy of their product.

 

Even if that's still the case for the closest thing to "true abandonware," it's really a matter of the chances that they will. But them no longer distributing a product does not mean they won't still keep on the look-out of piracy.

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9 minutes ago, Arctangent said:

a developer that is no long distributing a product can still legally fight against the piracy of their product.

That doesn't make it not abandonware.

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Just now, dmg_64 said:

That doesn't make it not abandonware.

Yes, it does.

 

Abandonware is internet slang, nothing beyond that - and it refers to software you can download for free, not legally but with no real chance that the site will get hit with a copyright notice.

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1 hour ago, Arctangent said:

Abandonware is most correctly defined as "games that are illegal to distribute for free, but the people who hold the rights to it don't care enough to crack down on it." It's not actually a legal distinction.

 

Which is to say, a game that is still being sold by its original distributor and likely will be for years to come is as far, far, far as you can get from abandonware. Age has absolutely nothing to do with it.

 

1 hour ago, dmg_64 said:

It's not abandonware until the developer stops distributing it, this includes digital stores.

 

Either way, Doom still isn't abandonwa-

1 hour ago, Error-404 said:

Thanks guys. I was joking around about pirating doom. Guess I did actually? Oopsies

Yes, Doom is 100% (times infinity) abandonware

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1 hour ago, Arctangent said:

Abandonware is most correctly defined as "games that are illegal to distribute for free, but the people who hold the rights to it don't care enough to crack down on it." It's not actually a legal distinction.

 

Which is to say, a game that is still being sold by its original distributor and likely will be for years to come is as far, far, far as you can get from abandonware. Age has absolutely nothing to do with it.

This is a really important distinction. We're talking about the interest people have in maintaining their IPs, not actual legislation. Notice that basically any game that is deemed abandonware is one which is somewhat obscure, often released by companies that are no longer around.

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2 hours ago, dmg_64 said:

That doesn't make it not abandonware.

If any company ever decides to fight against piracy of an old game then by definition it was never permanently abandoned. In other words, a game is only "abandonware" until it isn't.

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2 hours ago, Error-404 said:

Steam notwithstanding, is a game that hasn't been updated since the mid 90s abandoned?

 

the mere fact that it's sold on Steam is enough to say it's not abandonware regardless of how the term is defined.

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3 hours ago, Error-404 said:

a game that hasn't been updated since the mid 90s

Barely more than a couple of years have ever gone past since the 90s without a release of Doom:

It's hard to see how it could be any less "abandonware".

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From my understanding, "abandonware" (which as mentioned above is not a legal classification) is usually used in reference to software that is no longer legally available for purchase or download from its copyright owner. Doom is pretty clearly not abandoned.

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Is any software ever actually "officially" abandoned?  I.e. legal copyright owner publicly states that they are no longer interested in maintaining its legal status as copyrighted product and henceforth gifts the product to the public for free.

 

Because if they did that, surely it's freeware, not abandonware?  

 

Abanonware always struck me as a phrase people came up with to tell themselves them pirating software was ok because they weren't going to be chased for it.

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Is it abandoned if its a fully complete product that made it to market? Its commercialware? There are plenty of websites claiming its abandonware so somehow that gives them the right to post it for free and claim its not piracy when its still sold in stores and in various forms.

 

iD / Bethesda / Zenimax still own it. Its not abandoned until the legal copyrights run out. Then its public domain and we'll see new DOOM games everywhere.

 

I remember catching 2 burglars at my grandparents farm. They claimed the farm was abandon as if that was a defense. Just because my grand parents are both dead and no one lives doesn't mean that its not owned and watched over. Cops saw it my way.

Edited by geo

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1 minute ago, geo said:

Its not abandoned until the legal copyrights run out.

Technically that's not abandoned either, rather it's public domain.

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1 minute ago, Edward850 said:

Technically that's not abandoned either, rather it's public domain.

Oh yeah that. After 100 years right? Until Disney changes the law.

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2 hours ago, cyan0s1s said:

Doom is abandonwave.

 

What exactly would this be, taking soundtracks and effects from old 80's and 90's video games and slowing them down????

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1 hour ago, geo said:

I remember catching 2 burglars at my grandparents farm. They claimed it was abandon as if that was a defense. Just because they're both dead

Wow I really read this the wrong way at first

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2 hours ago, Bauul said:

Is any software ever actually "officially" abandoned?  I.e. legal copyright owner publicly states that they are no longer interested in maintaining its legal status as copyrighted product and henceforth gifts the product to the public for free.

That happens sometimes, but it's for small stuff, typically coded by just one person or two.

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24 minutes ago, Gez said:

That happens sometimes, but it's for small stuff, typically coded by just one person or two.

Castle of the Winds is a good example of this. 

 

But the term for that is "Freeware".

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