The request to release the copyright of Outwars will require the owner or a designated representative of our community to prepare a formal letter of intent that will explain our intentions of using the "Outwars" property. Atari/Infogrames is the last recorded owner of the properties originally registered to Singletrac Entertainment Technologies. After negotiations with said company, we must obtain a written letter of consent to use the said property.

Infogrames may say that they do not own the copyright for "Outwars;" however, we must reference copyright records and show the relationship from its original owner to its company in order to obtain our written letter of consent. This letter of consent will allow us to have some legal consent to use the title and other media associated to the title.

Who wants to be the representative or does Lix want to be the spokesman?

CDF Commander wrote:
Let's wait and see before we jump the gun here.

Referring to my notes from last time I have that any published work is protected by copyright laws until 70 years after the author's death (1). Outwars is a copyright title created and owned by Singletrac. Microsoft owned the publishing rights to the Outwars. Singletrac Entertainment Technologies was sold to GT Interactive which was later bought out by Infogrames Entertainment (2). According to the news Infogrames has changed its name to Atari in the past year due to its acquisition of Atari. If we did want to proceed with communication with the appropriate offices then send a letter to:

Atari
417 5th Ave # 7
New York, NY 10016-2204
(212) 726-6500

or an email to us.admin-contact@atari.com

in regards to the release of copyright protection to our group... Uh. We'll need to establish an official name if we really want to sound serious.

I'm going to make this a fork project.
If we could get all your research in one place, I could review it. If anyone else has anything to add... feel free to sign up.
Then I might be more comfortable writing a letter.

Did some digging around the Trademarks database and found the following:
Word Mark OUTWARS
Goods and Services (ABANDONED) IC 016. US 002 005 022 023 029 037 038 050. G & S: printed matter, namely, posters, stickers, calendars, comic books and trading cards
Mark Drawing Code (1) TYPED DRAWING
Serial Number 75240570
Filing Date February 12, 1997
Current Filing Basis 1B
Original Filing Basis 1B
Published for Opposition July 15, 1997
Owner (APPLICANT) SingleTrac Entertainment Technologies, Inc. CORPORATION DELAWARE 175 West 200 South Salt Lake City UTAH 84101
Attorney of Record ANNE H PECK
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator DEAD
Abandonment Date March 18, 1999
Word Mark OUTWARS
Goods and Services (ABANDONED) IC 025. US 022 039. G & S: clothing and apparel, namely, T-shirts, shirts, sweatshirts, jackets, swimsuits, hats and visors
Mark Drawing Code (1) TYPED DRAWING
Serial Number 75240555
Filing Date February 12, 1997
Current Filing Basis 1B
Original Filing Basis 1B
Published for Opposition July 15, 1997
Owner (APPLICANT) SingleTrac Entertainment Technologies, Inc. CORPORATION DELAWARE 175 West 200 South Salt Lake City UTAH 84101
Attorney of Record ANNE H PECK
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator DEAD
Abandonment Date April 8, 1999
Typed Drawing
Word Mark OUTWARS
Goods and Services (ABANDONED) IC 009. US 021 023 026 036 038. G & S: interactive video game programs and video game software and instruction manuals sold as a unit therewith. FIRST USE: 19980500. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19980500

(ABANDONED) IC 028. US 022 023 038 050. G & S: games and playthings, namely, action figures and toy vehicles
Mark Drawing Code (1) TYPED DRAWING
Serial Number 75228903
Filing Date January 21, 1997
Current Filing Basis 1B
Original Filing Basis 1B
Published for Opposition July 7, 1998
Owner (APPLICANT) SingleTrac Entertainment Technologies, Inc. CORPORATION DELAWARE 175 West 200 South Salt Lake City UTAH 84101
Assignment Recorded ASSIGNMENT RECORDED
Attorney of Record ANNE H PECK
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator DEAD
Abandonment Date November 28, 2000

What is our proposed intentions of using the Outwars property? Are we using any of the original content of the game? Are we redistributing original files?

I'd say, "upgrade" it in some way, making it more attractive for online gaming with supports for clans, some kind of friends system...eh, yeah, something like that.

Im having a pretty bad hangover right now so I can't think clearly, lol. Anyway, I'm willing to help, I can't code or anything like that but I'd like to chip in a buck or two to get something started.

epagien wrote:
What is our proposed intentions of using the Outwars property? Are we using any of the original content of the game? Are we redistributing original files?I think we would start with redistribution rights (i.e., a download from this site). Then I envision using the concept (flying w/jetpack, heavily armored, space marines) to create a new game; but that will probably not be forthcoming in this lifetime.