Comment Re:A couple of thoughts from a lawyer (Score 1) 270
A final thought - many people have suggested contacting the prior game owner. That is definitely something to consider IMO only if the advice is that your game is likely an infringement of the prior game. When development would be easier this way we advise this - but be prepared for negotiating a royalty deal. In most cases, a developer will simply "design around" the prior intellectual property and not seek permission.
It definitely depends on the size of the organisation responsible for the original, but in the single developer or small team world of old games (certainly pre-mid-90s era) I think it's relevant to contact the original developer, even if the IP has since traded hands or been incorporated by a larger corporation.
In my own case, I was worried that the IP had gone to Microprose and been swallowed up and lost in the madness that resulted from them being handed around from Infogrames, Atari and so on. The way I figured it, the best person to give me the actual state of the IP was the original developer, and that turned out to be correct.
I guess another argument for it is altruism and camaraderie. As a developer myself, if I got an anonymous request via the proxy of a lawyer, I'd be dubious and repelled.