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From: andrew@orca.UUCP (Andrew Klossner)
Newsgroups: net.sources.games
Subject: Copyright status of Infocom Zork
Message-ID: <1879@orca.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 9-Nov-85 21:41:07 EST
Article-I.D.: orca.1879
Posted: Sat Nov  9 21:41:07 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 11-Nov-85 06:12:19 EST
References: <441@bbnccv.UUCP> <850@ihlpa.UUCP>
Organization: Tektronix, Wilsonville OR
Lines: 21

>> There has been a sudden rash of questions about the old Zork adventure game
>> which has made me itchy to give it another go.  
>> Does anyone out there have the source available?  If there isn't enough need 
>> to post it to the net (is it even public domain?!?), I'll be glad to send a
>> S.A.S.Tape to anyone who would take the time.  The binaries won't help me 
>> much since I'm on a 20 bit machine.
>> 
>> --pat traynor--
>> 
>	To the best of my knowledge Zork, including the original, is not
> in the public domain.  If the original Zork was public domain, then InfoCom
> could not copyright Zork I because everything in Zork I was in the original
> Zork game.

Even if the facts were as stipulated (some of the features of Zork I
are not in original Zork), this reasoning would not be valid.  It is
perfectly proper to prepare a work which resembles a public domain work
and to give your new work copyrighted status.

  -=- Andrew Klossner   (decvax!tektronix!orca!andrew)       [UUCP]
                        (orca!andrew.tektronix@csnet-relay)  [ARPA]