Sorry if the title is a little misleading Derby, you're free to change it

The reason I'm back is because a lot of people mistake abandonware for freeware, which in all meanings is cow dung. That's why I've written this little thing. I'm merely putting it up for proofreading, so additions can be made at any time.

Copyright
To put it bluntly, everything you create is protected by law to prevent others from copying your creations. That goes for anything, down to the little pencil you draw with. If another company wants to use your creations commercially, they'd have to pay licensing fees or "royalties". Names however fall under a separate category called "Trademarks". Just to get this out of the way: copyright does expire, but only after 70 years if it's not passed on or updated. Should a product have more than one copyright date it means it was adapted from a previous release one way or another. Asking patents is the surefire way to really protect ideas from theft.

Freeware
Naturally computer and video games all fall under copyright laws, and as said before, copyrights only expires after 70 years if not updated! That's why Nintendo and Sega can keep releasing those Classic 8-bit and 16-bit era games commercially. However, a special kind of software is "freeware": free to use software, no obligations, free to spread around. The original company still holds the rights to the designs, but not the content. Only the original company can declare something freeware by changing the "Terms of Service" to "Free to Use".

Abandonware
Contrary to popular belief, "Abandonware" is not Freeware, at least not all of it (I'd say a fairly smal part)! In fact, there's no such thing as "Abandonware." People like to think that when the support for a game suddenly stops, it's freeware. Although it is true that freeware games hardly have customer support (if any) from the original company, that doesn't go the other way around! Games, even "abandoned", still fall under copyright laws and Terms of Service no matter how old they are, thus making them illegal to spread around, unless they've been declared freeware.

Jazz Jackrabbit
Now that's out of the way, let's focus on the current state on the Jazz Jackrabbit games. As of now, both Jazz 1 and 2 and all related games (aside from the Shareware Demos) are not freeware as the companies still hold the rights to everything in those games: content, designs, source code, etc. The rights to the different kinds of content are held by different companies, and most are either out of business or bought up. Epic Games currently holds the main rights to the games, but it takes more to declare any of them freeware. As for the source codes, figuring it out is one thing, getting the rights to it is another.

Jazz Jackrabbit 3, the game that never was...
The Jazz Jackrabbit 3 demo deserves a special mention because it was never meant to be released for the public. The demo was a special "Publisher Test Demo" to show off features of the game and entice publishers to release it, as JJ3 was far from finished when the demo was made. As it's not a public demo (they're made when the game is just about done anyhow) it's illegal to spread around. Just so you know, JJ3 was abandoned because no publisher was willing to take it in. That doesn't make it less illegal though.

Comments are welcome.

- JelZe GoldRabbit =:3

About time we needed this sort of thing. Sticky this, anyone?

PLEASE STICKY THIS. I'm gettting annoyed at all the "Jazz Jackrabbit is Freeware!" (-) and "Jazz Jackrabbit is now abandonware so you can get" buckets of (-). It's been getting so (-) anoying lately. At least once a month somebody posts one of those annoying topics, SO STICKY THIS PLEASE

Good idea. Sticking this topic would decrease the amount of topics about this subject, and will give those posters the right information. And anyway, I once saw Jazz2 be placed onto the downloads folder from the CraccoClan site, is this right?

I'll stick this. It's mentioned briefly in the FAQ and in the forum rules, but having its own thread and detailed article will help.

(JelZe if you don't want it stickied [stuck?], just say so. I recognize that this isn't a final product.)

Well, people can still ask questions and give suggestions for this article. I'm all ears

- JelZe GoldRabbit =:3

Yeah, that's right, Hareking. It was removed, though. And this topic is useless

Thank you, JelZe.

It's also worth noting that Jazz Jackrabbit 2 can still be bought from some shops (and so shouldn't be considered abandonware anyway).

Sorry if I'm the one who made this topic have to be an issue . I misunderstood the meaning of the word (if only It'd been here before I posted :P)

Originally Posted by eternal_magus

Sorry if I'm the one who made this topic have to be an issue . I misunderstood the meaning of the word (if only It'd been here before I posted :P)

It's understandable. There is a lot of misinformation out there about video/computer game copyright laws. For instance, it is commonly accepted that downloading a game from the Internet is legal if you delete it within 24 hours. In fact, this isn't even close to a real law.

Don't sweat it - you're not the first one to believe the abandonware stuff.

Mind you, once its spread around enough abondonwares sites people will be able to find it with a simple Google

Stijn: Stop posting sources for illegal downloads, you know it's forbidden.

I thought it was 60 years before a copyright expired.

Either way, great article-thing. Hopefully, this will prevent all those abandonware posts that come from people when they first join here. That is, if they bother to read it.

Nice article. I didn't notice this abandonware topic flood some people were talking about that much, but it's nice to have an article anyways. That way, we can just react by posting the link and don't need to repeat ourselves.

Good job.

*edit*

Now what we really need is an article explaining why 1.00 can't be patched in the Tech Help forum. Wanna do that too Jelly?

Originally Posted by LittleFreak

Nice article. I didn't notice this abandonware topic flood some people were talking about that much, but it's nice to have an article anyways. That way, we can just react by posting the link and don't need to repeat ourselves.

Good job.

*edit*

Now what we really need is an article explaining why 1.00 can't be patched in the Tech Help forum. Wanna do that too Jelly?

You ask, I roll

- JelZe GoldRabbit =:3

Updated with JJ1 and JJ3 demo tie-ins.

- JelZe GoldRabbit =:3

I've scanned the net and you dan easily find Jazz 2 on 'abandonware' sites. The abandonware sites, which must know the law, still carry on. Yet some developers are willing to ignore the fact that webites distribute their games online for free.

That's because some companies are Toodle Doops.

LOL

I wouldn't call Jazz2 abandonware because it can still be bought at some internet stores, see the 'Buy the game' page at the J2O homepage to find out where. And I have still seen Christmas Chronicles in a Dutch store near me, and that's actually the same Jazz2 version as TSF, whice is the Jazz2 game, so forget about Jazz2 being abandonware.

Most of the sites are probably american or Canadian. The only version you can get is 1.23, and only on amazon.

*1.22

And Christmas Chronicles is HH'98 with TSF's engine and some new menu stuff, by the way.

What I want to know is where Battery Check [The full version, not the demo] fits in to all this, wasn't it given out by some dutch company in exchange for batteries? If so, and they're no longer doing this, what is the legal status of the game? Evidently its abandonware, but is it legal to download and distribute the full game? [And if so, can somoen send me a link ]

Originally Posted by Doubble Dutch

What I want to know is where Battery Check [The full version, not the demo] fits in to all this, wasn't it given out by some dutch company in exchange for batteries? If so, and they're no longer doing this, what is the legal status of the game? Evidently its abandonware, but is it legal to download and distribute the full game? [And if so, can somoen send me a link ]

Yes, Battery Check was a game for promoting dropping off batteries in "Small Chemical Waste" bins, so it had some kind of price-tag... I wouldn't really know, I haven't heard anything if it being declared free-ware. I should look into this.

- JelZe GoldRabbit =:3

Why is Jazz2 not abandonware? Sure, abandonware is not free, but the term mainly means "games not supported by their creators anymore". I'd say that description fits JJ1/JJ2 pretty well.

Because JJ2 is still being sold (commercially, not through eBay).

I think JJ2 is abandonware, as are many other games. A lot of people who say that abandonware doesn't exist or is illegal are speaking the truth, but changing its definition from what it really is: abandoned games.

Originally Posted by BoggyB

Because JJ2 is still being sold (commercially, not through eBay).

It is being sold, but not distributed.

I asked at the local 'Videoland', and they can order it. Which means, not abandonware.

...who the heck is distributing it then? P2 is bankrupt and afaik they were the European publisher... Mysteriesss!

Originally Posted by Stijn

...who the heck is distributing it then? P2 is bankrupt and afaik they were the European publisher... Mysteriesss!

Or... They still have some ancient old copies of JJ2 because nobody wanted to buy them...

Originally Posted by Stijn

...who the heck is distributing it then? P2 is bankrupt and afaik they were the European publisher... Mysteriesss!

THE SYSTEM IS CORRUPT! CORRUPT I TELL YOU, CORRUPT!

D=

Abandonware is when the companies that made a game collaspse, and therefore no payment can be made to them. So the game is abandoned, and is illegal to sell, as that is theft. The game is (as you said) not freeware. Although some sites still distribute these games.

Oh yeah, I think some internet police should take down (warez)
as they are giving away all abandoned games for FREE.
Bad.
Bad.
Bad.
Bad, and once again, BAD!!!

[Warez edit. Please do not link to warez sites. Yes, abandonware is usually warez. - FQuist]

On the other hand, often classified as abandonware are games that just aren't easy to buy or aren't 'popular', the reasoning being that the company has abandonded it. This is even more ileagal, but who cares?

Wait, isn't that what everyone said already Dutchie?

No, since some people obviously do care

I was reffering to what DD said, not the article itself. And yes, I care. I bought JJ2.

Selfish?

...

What the duck are you talking about?