Copyrights - Arcade Graphics

[cebulba]

Hi there,

just wondering - with all the stores and "private sellers on Ebay" - is it ok to sell replicas and reprints of all the marquees, sideart and other artwork?
It seems that some got a licence (that pac man seller) but others don't.

Is the copyright problem not affecting US? Or do they just do it  - hence most game companies are defunct by today?

[Blanka]

Mostly it is a matter of printing with the right tools on the right material. Most files used are from vectorlib.fr or a similar site. Just offer a print service, give some samples, and let the buyer upload the files. You can magically alter the files upon reception (if the free library files are not 100%) and say you did some optimisation.

[level42]

For companies like Atari they still have the rights to the games and artwork. However, it seems they don't care for a small market like the arcade collectors' when repro's get made.

Even Nintendo, who is normally extremely strict actually knows about it and more or less communicated they didn't care (in the US). (Source, KLOV forum)

A lot of other companies have long gone, and even if the rights were transferred to other companies they don't seem to mind.

Gottlieb is an exception. They do not want scanned manuals etc. to be available for download and f.i. Phoenixarcade has a license to sell their repro Gottlieb artwork.

[Mickey_Moose]

I contacted Sega in the past with regards to having some artwork printed up and the reply I got back was basically they didn't care so as long as the artwork/logos/etc were not used in a defamatory manner.