Ubisoft responded to California gamers’ The Crew shutdown lawsuit in late February, filing to dismiss the case. The company’s lawyers argued in that filing, reviewed by Polygon, that there was no reason for players to believe they were purchasing “unfettered ownership rights in the game.” Ubisoft has made it clear, lawyers claimed, that when you buy a copy of The Crew, you’re merely buying a limited access license.
“Frustrated with Ubisoft’s recent decision to retire the game following a notice period delineated on the product’s packaging, Plaintiffs apply a kitchen sink approach on behalf of a putative class of nationwide customers, alleging eight causes of action including violations of California’s False Advertising Law, Unfair Competition Law, and Consumer Legal Remedies Act, as well as common law fraud and breach of warranty claims,” Ubisoft’s lawyers wrote.
Its not a privilege, its a protection for artists. There is nothing that says they have any responsibilities to their work after the copyright expires. I’m not sure where you got this privilege thing from.
It will be available in the public domain once the copyright expires, in the case of the crew.
Feel free to make another racing MMO and call it whatever you’d like though.
In the United States, copyright exists for the sole and express purpose “to promote the progress of science and the useful arts.” (US Constitution, article 1, section 8, clause 8). Protecting artists has nothing whatsoever to do with it; the monopoly privilege is given only as a means to the end of enriching the Public Domain.
Its literally a protection for those who create art or science. You are arguing what you think the spirit of the law is vs. what it functionally does. The purpose of a system is what it does.