Who is starting up E&B?

[sirmorte]

Who is starting up E&B ? Will it be free or will there be a cost? If a cost, how much?

[Kenu [CDEV]]

a group of volunteers from all over the world runs this project. It is and always will be free, though we accept donations so that we can pay the server costs.

[sirmorte]

Wait, I keep seeing posts that you won't advertise in order not to piss off EA. Did you not get their permission for this? I say this because the name Electronic Arts is all over this game from the log in, to the characters generated etc. Even the name Earth and Beyond was probably trade marked. I know there was a lot of additional new coding,but there must have been a lot of the original coding used. Thus, how are you guys able to legally use this?

[Kyp [LDEV]]

Wait, I keep seeing posts that you won't advertise in order not to piss off EA. Did you not get their permission for this? I say this because the name Electronic Arts is all over this game from the log in, to the characters generated etc. Even the name Earth and Beyond was probably trade marked. I know there was a lot of additional new coding,but there must have been a lot of the original coding used. Thus, how are you guys able to legally use this?

We all purchased our own licenses with the purchase of the software. The only thing absolutely original is the game client and art. The rest is what we've done (excepting certain missions and such that we took from data sources provided by you guys).

Think of it as "Fair use" because that's pretty much what it's going to fall under here:

Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 17 U.S.C. § 106 and 17 U.S.C. § 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include:

• the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
• the nature of the copyrighted work;
• the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
• the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.^[1]

^{as for many of us, it is research due to the fact that we want to make other games. This helps us not only grasp the development processes necessary but also the player mentality and gives us experience with how everyone thinks beside us:P:)}

the nature of it, is a game for everyone to use. A game no longer provided by its manufacturer.

As stated above, it's just the client and artwork primarily, and a lot of that has been updated to some extent where permissible or where we understand how within the game engine.

The use has no affect on the potential market or value for the work unless EA were to co-opt us to run the original or create an enb two, two things which are pretty unlikely in the long run, knowing E:P:)

[sirmorte]

Haha, good luck with that fair use argument. You should tell that to all the folks who shared music for free and are now being hunted down by the music industry. However, I don't see a lot of damages considering that EA shut down the game and is getting nothing from it. It's not like they are losing revenue. I was wondering, however, how you got the original client to begin with.

By the way, the game is terrific. You guys have done wonders. I applaud your efforts.

[sunvillage]

Haha, good luck with that fair use argument. You should tell that to all the folks who shared music for free and are now being hunted down by the music industry. However, I don't see a lot of damages considering that EA shut down the game and is getting nothing from it. It's not like they are losing revenue. I was wondering, however, how you got the original client to begin with.

By the way, the game is terrific. You guys have done wonders. I applaud your efforts.

Well, I for one bought the original client at a store, after been invited to the open beta phase back in 200x.

[Fujisanka]

Haha, good luck with that fair use argument. You should tell that to all the folks who shared music for free and are now being hunted down by the music industry.

...

What does distributing a copyrighted work to random people without the consent of the copyright holder have to do with writing a game server program that happens to be compatible with an existing game client? I fail to see the connection here.

Also the full game client was available as a free demo with EA's blessing. Although these install files are no longer hosted by EA they have been mirrored in several other places on the internet so they are still freely available for anyone to download. There is a thread in the forums with links to some of these locations.

Edited August 28, 2010 by Fujisanka

[sirmorte]

What does distributing a copyrighted work to random people without the consent of the copyright holder have to do with writing a game server program that happens to be compatible with an existing game client? I fail to see the connection here.

Also the full game client was available as a free demo with EA's blessing. Although these install files are no longer hosted by EA they have been mirrored in several other places on the internet so they are still freely available for anyone to download. There is a thread in the forums with links to some of these locations.

Hey, I love the game and am happy the developers put in the work to make this a cool game. I was just curious.

[Fujisanka]

Yeah I love E&B too. I just tend to give overly thorough answers to everything. Comes from being an engineer. Happy flying.

Keep your towel with you at all times and most importantly, don't panic.

Edited August 29, 2010 by Fujisanka