An update, Bob Bates has accepted my LinkedIn request. I've sent him a message inquiring as to who might currently hold the rights to the Legend Entertainment titles.

Was reading up his profile, he's actually the author of two Infocom games - Sherlock! The Riddle of the Crown Jewels and Arthur: The Quest for Excalibur. That's one thing I've really enjoyed about this research lark, namely meeting some of the great old names in the business.

Oh I wrote to Bob Bates about the games some time ago, here's his response from then:
http://www.gog.com/forum/general/the_search_for_game_rights_a_diaryesque_thread/post222

*blushes*
I like the "hunt". I like it when finally another link is added to the chain and you find the rights. I like being creative and trying to find new sources for information. I like that it is totally OK to be obsessive about the search for games.
*hides*

Since it's in Atari's hands, we could approach them, but I don't know where would be best. They've taken a renewed interest in the business since the bankruptcy business has settled, so now's the best time to prod them. They've got a Twitter but it's rarely active, and they don't reply to any inquiries there. They occasionally reply on Facebook, though.
Edit: Here's their e-mail addresses:
info@atari.com
customersupport@atari.com

Received a nice message from Bob Bates. It's pretty much along the lines of what was discussed here before, but I've asked him if I can share it here. I also mentioned to him that Atari seems to be coalescing together into some form, so if he is interested in digging into them I can pass that info back. I'll see what he responds with.

What games are folks most interested in getting from Legend Entertainment? A lot of them are licensed properties, so they might be non-starters, depending on the terms of the licenses. Personally I'd most like to get Mission Critical here. I wouldn't mind an old classic like Timequest either, which was created by Bob himself.

Got some more info from Bob Bates in a follow-up email. Choice highlights below.

...

As for tracking down the rights with Atari, if you get anywhere you can tell them that I'm interested in buying back the rights to some of the games. I've tried to do this *several* times before, but every time I started to make progress, they went through another upheaval and my contact left the company. Earlier this year I did write to the person whom I thought was the liquidation lawyer, but never got a response.

...

As for the authors who licensed their books to us in the first place, I'm on good terms with a few of them, so if things ever get jarred loose from Atari, I might be able to work something out just so that the games are out there again.

...

So he is definitely an active participant in the effort to secure the rights. I sent him the Atari email address posted, and let him know that I would be willing to proxy some of the conversation if he didn't have time or inclination to badger them for an answer. Clearly previous attempts have been an understandably frustrating process for him.

And I think it's really exciting that he might be able to negotiate the release of some titles based on novels. Usually such licensed properties are a real nightmare to follow through on, but he seems to have the right connections in place.

I've asked him for a list of what titles he is personally interested in getting back from Atari, as well as what licensed games he feels most optimistic about securing the authors' permission on.

They seem to have Blackstone Chronicles which in my book is one of the best adventure games ever made. Let's not forget Callahan's Crosstime Saloon, another obvious classic.

Amazing progress, Siny! I just hope I will have a similar success in my project as well.

Hmmm... How about contacting Fred Chesnais? He has a LinkedIn account and seems to be a pretty accessible person.

Edit: Also he seems to be involved in what happens with old(er) Atari games:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2606956/atari-is-rebooting-asteroids-as-a-dayz-style-survival-game.html

I'm willing to give it a gamble. Hopefully the more people like that I have as contacts, the more credible others will take me to be and thus be willing to connect.

What company(s) did he work for, and what titles are you most interested in getting through him? Let me know so that I can do some Mobygames research before reaching out. Thanks!

You can always tell him that he should contact GOG, because they have contact with Atari, since they signed a lot of papers before with Atari.

Thay could be interested in contacting Bob Bates with Atari, to see if they are interested in that kind of deal.

I'd be interested in:
Companions of Xanth
Death Gate
Shannara
Callahan's Crosstime Saloon
Gateway
Gateway 2
Blackstone Chronicles
Superhero League of Hoboken

My thought was in relation to getting rights from Atari for Bob Bates.
Instead of using the customer support email I could imagine that contacting Fred Chesnais directly works better.

Ah, is he someone at Atari? I might give that a go then. I've also pinged our GOG contact to see if they have any inroads yet into the reconstituted Atari.

Ach, he's the CEO of Atari! I guess I can still reach out to him, but it's a bit intimidating now. I'll see if I can draft something suitably terse and respectable so that I'm not hustled out the virtual door by burly bodyguards. ;)

EDIT: Connection request sent. Wish me luck!