Pricetag of BG IP
killeah
Member Posts: 124
Come 19th juli, what Would be the final hammerstroke ?
Or Will it go on auction at all.
Exciting times!!!
Or Will it go on auction at all.
Exciting times!!!
- Pricetag of BG IP88 votes
- Less than 10000 $3.41%
- 10k - 100k14.77%
- 100k - 500k21.59%
- 500k - 1000k12.50%
- More than a million7.95%
- Specific amount (type in comment)4.55%
- It wont go on auction, some other Company Will aquire it before15.91%
- It wont go on auction, Beamdog Will aquire it before.19.32%
0
Comments
...or staying with video games - EA. (thanks @Kaltzor)
I doubt there are any company that really is interested in the BG ip, except Beamdog.
We would have seen a BG3 by now if anyone was really interested in doing one. But instead companies are creating their own universes with their own IP.
They don't want some other company deciding the rules and ask for permission if they can change some of them so it works with a cRPG.
Main income for acquiring the BG IP will be when BG2EE is released. And that will probably be too little for anyone to really bother with if they have to split it with Beamdog and others.
The key subject here is the exact scope of rights.
The situation is different to just selling franchise rights. We do know that the Atari brand itself will start at $15 million, Roller Coaster Tycoon - at $3.5 million, Test Drive - at $1.5 million, Humongous, Fatty Bear's Birthday Surprise, and Math Gran Prix - at $500,000 each, Total Annihilation - at $250,000.
But regarding BG selling everything is not possible due to other existing copyright holders. There's probably a vast system of neighboring (related) rights to it and the precise scope of what is on this auction is unknown to the public.
From the legal point of view, even if it's only a right of reproduction, it can have hundreds of forms. And there're also distribution, importation and so on.
Moreover, even if there are some starting numbers they are just what Atari wishes, not necessarily what they will go for.
If it goes EA I'm out.
It would be pretty easy to implement WBC members in the game. Just use the soundsets for the Unseeing Eye cultists: "Kneel and repent!" "Cast off your old beliefs and be saved!"
That would really tie their future to success of these games, and they'd be in a shit load of debt.. but at least they'd have a clearer future as rights holders.
But the most promising lot may well be the Total Annihilation franchise - a classic RTS designed by Chris Taylor and Cavedog Entertainment - which could be sold for as little as $250,000.
Atari has requested that some of its assets be sold outside of the auction process, on the grounds of their "minor value." "
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-05-23-atari-seeks-USD22-2-million-in-bankruptcy-auctions
http://www.geek.com/games/atari-plans-to-auction-off-all-its-game-assets-in-july-1556174/
There is also a Wall Street Journal article about it. Apparently its in court documents, though I'm too lazy to figure out where they were filed
Heh.
You said "taint."
Intellectual property rights have many forms and there can be an agreement between the interested parties affecting all, several or only one of them. Copyright Law of the United States grants certain rights to the owner of a copyright in a work:
- the right to reproduce the copyrighted work;
- the right to prepare derivative works based upon the work;
- the right to distribute copies of the work to the public;
- the right to perform the copyrighted work publicly;
- the right to display the copyrighted work publicly.
The distribution right grants to the copyright holder the right to make a work available to the public by sale, rental, lease, or lending.
This right allows the copyright holder to prevent the distribution of unauthorized copies of a work.
Taking into account Atari distributes BG:EE and it was Atari who demanded Beamdog to stop selling the game we can come to a conclusion that Atari definitely own - at least - one intellectual property right that is the distribution right.
And this particular right or even the certain scope of it can be sold. But will it be sold? What conditions will be included in an agreement? Who will be its sides?
Apparantly WoTC own intellectual property rights as well (but these rights are different).
So, the situation with BG is different if compared to selling a whole franchise - and when newspapers talk about selling Atari's assets such as Roller Coaster Tycoon at the auction they mean selling a complex of rights.
The main question is what will happen to the distribution rights affecting BG and BG:EE. Especially if we take into account the Atari brand itself will be at the auction. And there're other copyright holders such as WoTC.
We don't have access to any contracts and their conditions so we can't find the truth. That's why it's so hard to estimate any prices.
You can't handle the truth!
I've dealt with this sort of thing quite a bit due to work, unfortunately, but can't give any insight into a bankruptcy case. Especially in the US. Which is why it's good to see someone here who can give that insight
A hobby project* I was doing some time ago where I was rendering reference material for artists on deviantART (from the Mass Effect trilogy) required that I get permission from BioWare/EA. After about three months, I got permission with the following provisions (copied directly from the e-mail):
- Copyright cannot be assumed over anything created from usage of the reference images (BioWare owns the copyrights to the characters)
- No commerce. People cannot sell or profit from the images or works based on them – not even for charity (it tends to get very complicated very quickly)
- BioWare must be credited as the copyright holder for the reference images (which I believe you’ve already done), this holds true for derivative works as well though (things created based on the references you provide).
- You can’t (and you’re probably already aware of this) represent yourself as a BioWare or EA employee, agent or representative.
So, basically, BioWare/EA owns the rights to everything I render (models are ripped straight from their game, so that was a given), but they also own the right to everything created using the reference material. So long as people don't try to sell, make a profit from, or claim ownership (even a creative commons licence) of their own work in which they used one of the references, everything is fine.Technically, in this case, Wizards owns the intellectual property of the D&D universe - which includes the Forgotten Realms, the locations in which the Baldur's Gate games are located in, and the rule-set that the games (mostly) operate by. Atari owns the rights to the Baldur's Gate franchise. Even though they own that, I'm not sure about the rights to create more games based on the BG franchise. I am also not quite sure how Interplay/Titus Software or inXile Entertainment would fit into all of this, since the distribution and derivative rights would apply to just about any company that touched it depending on how the contracts were dealt with.
Given the legal mishmash, the franchise may not go for near as high as people think. No matter who purchases the BG franchise, they will also have to answer to Wizards; that might make people uncomfortable with the idea of not actually owning what they paid for**. If the entity that purchases it owned the entirety of what it had bought, it could go for a couple million. That's not the case, though, and could prove to be something out of a nightmare for the entity that does purchase it.
* I pointed out that it's a hobby project because the legalities of it would probably seem quite restrictive under the circumstances. That can be multiplied by just about any number imaginable in the case of BG.
** Unless they happen to be Beamdog, since they already get along well with Wizards. Or Wizards themselves may place a bid on it, which will probably make life for everyone considerably easier and a lot less uncomfortable.
At least, that's my take on it. It could very well be off the mark. I'm not entirely familiar (not at all familiar, I should say) with U.S. law.
Points Towards the fact that, BG wont go ón auction at all. Unless its a part of the 15 mill atari brand package. Which it probaly isnt, as its not displayed there Either.
Which leaves the question, if they arent selling it, what is to become of the franchise. And is it indeed a Sign that BG already is somewhere Else. And that we're just waiting for the 19th to have everything legally back ón wheels again.
Well let's hope the auction will go well. At least, it should close the chapter with Atari's troubles.
The fact that the BG is not on the list is indeed curious. I am not bankruptcy lawyer, so I do not know if this means that it has already been bought by someone else.