If the company folds

[jagabom 21]

So, the company that I bought an aircraft from decides to close shop. While it is open I agree that I should not give my aircraft and code to anyone. Now that the company is finished business, can I give away the program and code? No one is going to be hurt if I do this.jimCYWG

[Glynn 405]

HelloMy take on this is that you cannot give away the program and codeThe developers may have have closed shop but may have sold the distribution rights to another publisher. The software rights remain the property of the author no matter if they are actively selling the product or not, and are theirs do do what they like with.We only buy a licence to use the software , we do not own the rights to distribute it.

[John_Cillis 2,406]

"...can I give away the program and code? No one is going to be hurt if I do this."Someone may very well be hurt. I've worked with development since the mid-80's both in front line development and behind the scenes on the network side, and have been around long enough to have worked for a few companies which have folded. However, those that owned the rights to their software rose from the ashes, so to speak, and were able to build new businesses and ultimately employ hundreds of people. If the wolves had come rushing out giving their software away (which is illegal, as already pointed out in the other reply), hundreds of lives would have been hurt, including mine--maybe even thousands if you included the spouses and children supported by the people in those businesses. My employment today is a direct result from one previous business taking the rights to the code they owned and making a new and viable business. Software piracy isn't a victimless crime, and however naive the question, it's always offensive to hear about it. People need to be less ignorant about the law and care more about the unseen thousands who code or support those who code.-JohnImportant Edit: The flip side to this is some developers will give you the rights to distribute their work freely if you ask. Some will bend over backwards to let you do this--but asking is key.

[Guest Phantoms]

Only if once you do, you completely delete it from your computer. This is the case whether the company is still around or not.

[Mike T 208]

The short answer is that your are still bound by the EULA and the software remains the property of the developer. Even though they are out of business, someone still owns the full rights to the software just as if they were in business. I would assume the EULA states that you won't give the software to anyone.Remember, if the developer decides to start business up again tomorrow and sell the product that you gave away in violation of the EULA, then bad things happen.Try to get in contact with the developer and ask.

[altstiff 71]

For sure the company still owns the rights to the code.Case in point.Papyrus made a racing simulation called "Nascar Racing 2003" produced and distributed by Sierra (Vivendi Universial).Dave Kammer (SP?), owner of Papyrus, had to buy the rights back to his own code from Vivendi for the N2K3 simulation to produce another simulation based on that original code.

[Guest Ichinin]

>Only if once you do, you completely delete it from your>computer. This is the case whether the company is still around>or not.Yupp, and before that he should check if he is allowed by the EULA to transfer the license to someone else in the first place.

[Guest christianholmes]

Sometimes intellectual property rights do get abandoned-The popular term at that point is "abandonware" (not suprisingly). But you would have to either do a thorough (and expensive) legal search or get confirmation from the former owners that the software is now in the public domain.The game company I worked at had to go the search route since we wanted to redo some older board games. In one case all fingers pointed to a certain publisher for the IP, but when contacted they said they no longer owned it. In this case, you can probably get away with using it as long as you could show a court that you had evidence that the last IP holder gave you permission.As for flight sim stuff, I seriously doubt any of them would have the muscle to sue, but it's still not a nice thing to do.That being said, if the company principals expect people to respect their decision to discontinue, it's imperative they show a little 'good will' or people will just be angry. For instance, they should prominently make an announcement on their website at state who will continue support (if anyone) and also state who is taking over publishing rights (if anyone). They should also put out a patch to disable online authentication so current users will be able to continue to use the products. Without these basic steps, I would say users generally feel abandoned to the point they would probably not respect any legal boundaries.

[jagabom 21]

Thanks for the replies and interesting discussion. Sorry for posting in the wrong forum. I was wondering wehere it should go.JimCYWG

[Guest Shalomar]

"Without these basic steps, I would say users generally feel abandoned to the point they would probably not respect any legal boundaries."Exactly what PMDG did for all their aircraft made for the FLY series. What a disapointment...Merry Christmas to allBest Regards, Donny :-waveFLYing? It's cool. Trillions of birds and insects can't be wrong.