Yes I think more games is good, I'm weird.

Then maybe commies are a cool bunch.

I see some people have pointed out the flaws I was thinking about (still haven't read the article).

So, some practical cases to get to the matter:
Practical case N°1
Spiderweb Software was founded in 1994 and Jeff Vogel's first game (Exile 1) came out in 1995. So next year, it should be on the public domain according to Mr Walker. Jeff Vogel give the game for free (kudos to him) but should he revoke his IP rights for the "greater good"?

Practical case N°2:
The actual indie developers are in their 20's/30's so in 20 years most of them should be in their 40's. If they still work as freelancers should they have still the right to make money out of their game? (think FTL, Spelunky and so on...)

What prevents him from writing such a book and profiting from it? It is just that any other writer can now do the same. Fan-fic writers would now be able to sell their works.

I agree with the original article. In my opinion, in that context (getting money on a videogame after 20 years) the 'developpers have to eat' argument is a fallacy : I mean, material wise .... we are talking about videogames as data, it doesn't cost much to 'produce and sell an item' .... so if a developper is planning on the revenue generated 20 years down the line that means there is a problem in how the devs project their sales.

That said, I consider gog rightfully prices the added value it provides, no one is disputing that.

Why not? What is your counterargument?

Vogel has created other games since then, as creators are known to do. Nothing about his first game going into the public domain impacts his dozens of releases since then.

Here's my counter example:

The movie Charade became public domain because of a fluke. What were the horrible repercussions of this? Criterion got to make an awesome blu ray version of the movie without begging a studio for the chance to do so, and everyone loves the movie. The stars and director all had great careers before and after, and society at large loves the movie.

What a horrible outcome!

So you really think that it is right? Wow, people never stop to amaze me.

You want to profit off of fan-fic? Contact the original author!

This entitled bunch really annoys me.

So you dont respect other peoples hard work, their own creative ideas, their time spent on creating something? Why should someone else profit from your own ideas? To me, this is nothing else, but theft.

As long as author is alive, he should be in charge. He wants to give the rights away? Great. He wants to authorize a fan-fic novel? Great. But it should be his own decision. How could you strip someone off of rights to his own work?

Video game developers and publishers pay up to millions of dollars producing computer games, employing people to make it - including those that write the code, those making levels, etc. They own those games, because they paid for them to be made, it's not a hard concept to comprehend.

What gives the right for "the public" or anyone for that matter to have rights over something they did not pay for, and thus have no legal rights to?

They would still have the right to make money out of their game. Maybe you have some misconceptions of the topic.

Something we have all explained already but you don't agree with or understand, and likely never will agree with or understand, and thus this is all a waste of time.

Public domain would give them the right, that is what the thread is about...

They barely even classify as "works" really, they would be parasitically stealing the exact ideas, characters, plots, settings etc of a work and then seeking to profit from it. It sounds like nothing but legalized plagiarism.
But why. They did not pay for it, they expended no resources of their own to produce the work, so on what basis do they claim that right?

Yes, so? We get more stuff, why don't you want more?
What basis are you looking for other than public domain?

I usually dont call people commies or lefties. Actually, I never do. Untill now.

Great, everything should be in the possesion of the public. Fuck the individual, fuck their work, fuck their rights. They dont matter. All that matters is the public.

Welcome to a communist state.

You seem to think that is some sort of insult?

Another unreasonable article by a website who themselves have never published anything of more value than the stuff they flush down the toilet each day.
Deciding the squirl should give away his nuts because he has holded on too long to them looks indeed very similar to what someone mentioned, communism.
I'm not sure in what world the people who agree on this think we actually live in, claiming that copyright laws is BS and should be dismissed is one thing, completely undermining the economy and everything it is based upon is attempting to defy the forces of nature, it will never work.
Even the games that have been made free available someone has to pay for serverrent to make it available.

Yes I had too much sugar today again, but it was not exactly my fault as even spagettisauce has more suger than a bottle of cola.