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Jazz JackrabbitThey were never free, LOL(21 posts)(21 posts)
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Posted December 05, 2017
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Nukkus: I see there's a user named "greatatemi" who left single star reviews saying that they're "selling a freeware game" on both Jazz Jackrabbit 1 and 2. I guess they think of illegal pirated copies as freeware, then? The games have never been released for free, unless you count Holiday Hare, but those are just small freebies with only a couple levels.
Other than a possible shareware version that did the rounds, the only other thing I can think he's getting confused with were OEM copies. I received it free with a new PC back in the day (along with Redline Racer and GPolice)...
Posted December 15, 2017
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EpicPizza: Uh, no dude, they were never free.

There were shareware releases of the games, but they were never 100% free.

Perhaps you're confusing them for Tyrian 2000 or One Must Fall: 2097? Or perhaps you're one of those people who think that abandonware is an actual legal term that actually makes a game legally freeware?
How about 'public domain'? As far as I'm concerned, Congress's unconstitutional extensions of copyright shouldn't be counted, so JJ2 would be out of copyright unless renewed.
Post edited December 15, 2017 by keiyakins
Posted December 16, 2017
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keiyakins: As far as I'm concerned, Congress's unconstitutional extensions of copyright shouldn't be counted, so JJ2 would be out of copyright unless renewed.
They're not unconstitutional. They're wrong on so many levels that I can't count them all, but they're not unconstitutional. I hope the next extension won't happen though. I have something pretty amazing up my sleeve for when Mickey comes into public domain.

But that's about it. Wrong and stupid, motivated fully by greed? Yes. Unconstitutional? No.
Posted December 17, 2017
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keiyakins: As far as I'm concerned, Congress's unconstitutional extensions of copyright shouldn't be counted, so JJ2 would be out of copyright unless renewed.
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darkhog: They're not unconstitutional. They're wrong on so many levels that I can't count them all, but they're not unconstitutional. I hope the next extension won't happen though. I have something pretty amazing up my sleeve for when Mickey comes into public domain.

But that's about it. Wrong and stupid, motivated fully by greed? Yes. Unconstitutional? No.
The Constitution only allows copyright for a limited time, and only "To promote the progress of science and useful arts". Not "to make more money for corporations".
Posted December 19, 2017
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darkhog: They're not unconstitutional. They're wrong on so many levels that I can't count them all, but they're not unconstitutional. I hope the next extension won't happen though. I have something pretty amazing up my sleeve for when Mickey comes into public domain.

But that's about it. Wrong and stupid, motivated fully by greed? Yes. Unconstitutional? No.
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keiyakins: The Constitution only allows copyright for a limited time, and only "To promote the progress of science and useful arts". Not "to make more money for corporations".
It is for limited time, though the U.S. constitutions doesn't specify that time so they can extend it at will. And they can always pay some artists off to strike and say to dumb journalists who won't look deeply into it (unlike, the entire team of TechDirt whom I greatly respect) that they won't be able to eat and live if Congress won't extend copyright to promote progress of science and arts.

So yes, it's completely legal, but not everything's that's completely legal is right and this is one of these things. But let's not drago this thread off topic, okay?
Posted December 26, 2017
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"Abandonware" is not freeware, and the Jazz Jackrabbit games were never freeware. Sure, you could find them in some "abandonware" sites, but abandonware is nothing more than a grey area some people made up to justify piracy. Though I don't work with video games, I do work in the publishing business, and I can say, with all certainty, that so-called abandonware has no legal standing whatsoever. None. At all. Never had, never will. If you're downloading an "abandonware" product, you're downright pirating. Whether you feel good or bad about that is not up to me to say, but it *is* just piracy.

Unless the rights owner makes the product freeware, which the Jazz Jackrabbit games *never* were. You can still find shareware versions throughout the internet, but shareware is not freeware, it's basically a "demo" locked version of a game so that players could try it out before deciding whether they wanted to buy the full version. Shareware is legal, but it's not the full version of a game.
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Jazz JackrabbitThey were never free, LOL(21 posts)(21 posts)
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