Hi guys,

Just wondering what the current situation of the Space Quest rights are? Will you be able to use things like Buckazoids and other characters from the series in your new kickerstarter game? Would be great to know. Does suck that the big corporations hold the rights and have no plans to release or allow others to use them.

 

Cheers,

Rob

The Two Guys are trying to get the Space Quest IP from Activision but are having some trouble, as would be expected. For now, they will be moving ahead making the SpaceVenture game.

I am so fine with them making a SpaceVenture game instead of Space Quest. I seriously hope people don't get hung up on the fact it might not "Space Quest."

Whether it's Space Quest or not, I don't care. All that matters is that the Two Guys are back and willing to create a new space adventure for us fans.

The Space Quest rights are actually very muddled. The rights to the existing Space Quest games are very firmly in the hands of Activision. Elements within the Space Quest games, however, are not necessarily trademarked -- in fact, the rights to the "Space Quest" name itself was pretty muddled around 1995, when the SQ6 box bore the "Children's Museum of Indianapolis" disclaimer on the back.

 

However, the safest thing to do is to stay away from existing material. Thin ice and all that. If Activision's legal department would get wind of a Two Guys game with buckazoids and Roger Wilco in it, no amount of fan protests would change what came next. Even if buckazoids and Roger Wilco aren't technically trademarked, at least not in a legally binding sense.

 

(We already had a great big discussion on the difference between "trademarks" and "REGISTERED trademarks." As far as we can tell, only the name "Space Quest" is a registered trademark.)

Activision holds the copyright to the Space Quest story. Derivative works based on that copyright are also protected against.

 

Activision doesn't hold any iota of a trademark to Space Quest - that's entirely held by the Children's Museum of Indianapolis and they can license as they see fit.

Like I said, I am fine with it not being "Space Quest." I am fine with it being "SpaceVenture" staring some new character, with the same silliness that the previous Space Quest games had. (Even if it's not silly - and more of a serious game! But really - it's the TGfA - it's probably going to be silly!) That's all I care about! The game could be called "SpaceVenture" and star a former Spaceball Champion by the name of "Fergus Funk" and I would be all over this - just because it's the Two Guys From Andromeda.

 

I mean technically, the first Space Quest wasn't even about Roger Wilco. It could be whoever you named the character. It only "defaulted" to Roger Wilco if you pressed ENTER and didn't give the character a unique name! :)

Activision holds the copyright to the Space Quest story. Derivative works based on that copyright are also protected against.

That's true, but from that point on it gets muddled. Is including a buckazoid an infringement, but the inclusion of The Two Guys characters aren't?

 

Activision doesn't hold any iota of a trademark to Space Quest - that's entirely held by the Children's Museum of Indianapolis and they can license as they see fit.

 

Is that still in effect? I haven't checked, and I can't remember if any of us actually went out and checked if there's a statute of limitations on those things?

Is including a buckazoid an infringement, but the inclusion of The Two Guys characters aren't?

Copyright law is very tricky, especially getting into fair use and what not. Obviously they can't copyright every element of a story ("they used spaceships in their story so we are suing them for copyright infringement!"), so I think the Two Guys are OK.

 

Is that still in effect? I haven't checked, and I can't remember if any of us actually went out and checked if there's a statute of limitations on those things?

The Space Quest trademark is still active, the Roger Wilco trademark has been canceled. And as long as the trademark is in active use it doesn't have an expiration.

Thanks for clearing that up -- you can probably tell, I was having trouble with that one myself. ;)

Thanks guys. Seems a little clearer now :) Guess we will have to wait. Would be good to see another Space Quest adventure but if not possible I'm still looking forward the the SpaceAdventure with the two guys. The have my kickerstarter pledge now :)

 

This is getting expensive though. Wasteland 2, LSL1 and now Two Guys. All we need is QFG to come back on kickstarter and that will bust my bank account :)

The way I see it.. they are clever enough to write an interesting NEW franchise that we can all decide for ourselves if its an entirely new universe OR.. its happening on the other side of the universe of Roger's...

The Space Quest rights are actually very muddled.

 

I was at the Star Trek Experience when it was hosted at the Las Vegas Hilton. The casino area around the STE was called Space Quest and you could buy merchandise that bore the Las Vegas Hilton Space Quest logo. I bought a mug and sent it to Mark. Hopefully, he still has it.

 

Troels is right. It's best to stay away from stuff that can get you sued.

 

Also market-wise, it may be better to create a new IP anyway. The SQ brand has a bit of baggage and fans have certain expectations for any products that bear the name. In addition, historically, sequels tend to have an attach rate of 70%, which means if episode 1 had $1,000,000 worth of unit sales, a sequel would only generate $700,000. There are execptions, but only a magical few.

 

There is also the unknown risk of what Activision plans to do with the brand. If they make a new game under the brand and it does not live up to the awesomeness of the games by the two guys, a new SQ game by Mark and Scott would have an uphill battle.

 

In this circumstance I think it's far better to use the marquis value of the creators' name and reputation to create a new IP. "From the creators of..." This is something they will always own. But this also comes with some risks, like for example, how many people know the whole two guys saga enough to want to buy their games. I think it's pretty high, but that's seat of the pants.

 

Creating a new brand is easier if you know there is a pent up demand for it.