Bookwyrm627: It just occurred to me that perhaps the "unreleased game content" clause is a nod toward things like the Hot Coffee mod. The placement of that line makes more sense when viewed in that context.
Except the problem wasn't that it it was some leftover that was later discovered, but rather something fully implemented that was commented out that was then discovered by the ESRB after the game was released.
Darvond: I'd like a clarification on a few of the rules.
On the matter of pirated content, what if the company relating to said software is long dead?
skeletonbow: Copyright law under the Berne convention gives the owner of the creative work exclusive rights by default, and gives anyone else no rights. This means that if someone is not the owner of a copyrighted work - they never ever gain any rights to use that work implicitly regardless of whether there is a known owner of the work or not. The only time one gains rights to utilize a copyrighted work is when the owner of that work grants explicit permission in writing that is considered legally binding, or if the copyright actually expires more or less.
That's it in a nutshell, but if anyone is in a position where they need to know with absolute certainty about a specific copyright related issue, they should directly contact an IP attourney.
The concept of "abandonware" has no official definition really, and no valid legal concept per se either. :)
That's better an explanation and justification than the poster up there who has a hardline position on copyright for some reason.
Darvond: "Posting cheats, hacks, game exploits, and game spoilers - unless you clearly note that this is what your post is about at the top of it.", does this apply retroactively?
real.geizterfahr: Nope. None of the rules apply retroactively. This is bad when it comes to our scammer brigade who turned the forums to shit with their alt armies. This is bad when it comes to comments about "subhuman scum" that some ... "users" posted in the past. But it's good for rules like that one! You shouldn't be banned for posting
ATTENTION! I'M GOING TO POST A CHEAT NOW! up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A
NO MORE CHEATS FROM THIS POINT ON! in the past.
That's good. I one day asked for help on Uru and didn't exactly mark up the puzzle spoilers. (Admittedly, when it comes to Myst, I say better an open solution than starting into it while slowly growing insane because the moon logic involved.