Abandonware

And the Software Makers have not renewed the Copyright so it is now Abandoned by it's maker.

In a case like this you can do as you please but you need to remember that the Maker no longer support this item so there is little to no help available. You also need to know that just because something is old doesn't meant that it is no longer under Copyright so you would have to Check the Individual Product.

Also besides Copyright there is also the possibility of Patents on the Software and you also need to check that the Patents have not been renewed. Many times old products in the form of Software are incorporated into new products by the same maker so while the Copyright may have expired and not been renewed the Patent will not necessarily be the same way.

For instance there are some lines of Windows 3 Code incorporated into Windows Vista so M$ has renewed the Patent on the Software for their DOS and all forms of Windows.

Col

Abandonware is just as you have described it.

The only problem you may encounter is that some of the programs are so old they might not be compatible with your current operating system.

Those that ARE compatible may need experimenting with by running in Win95/Win98 Compatibility Mode, by right clicking the program executable and selecting 'compatibility' from the dialogue box.

Those that ARE NOT compatible will probably run inside DOSBox, which you can easily download from the 'net.

Happy Gaming! :)

I'm a big fan on the scene of retro-gaming, here's a link that may be of some help to you all:

http://www.worldofspectrum.org/permits/

This guy runs a legitimate site, by trying to contact software houses/authors/programmers etc., basically anyone who owns the coprights to old games, to get their permission to put them on his site for any one to download free of charge.