Hi all,

does somebody know, what the magic number is for GOG deciding to add a game and here I mean a gem as well to the library?

The games I am talking about are those two:

https://www.mobygames.com/game/buck-rogers-countdown-to-doomsday
http://www.mobygames.com/game/buck-rogers-matrix-cubed

They already brought the other golden SSI games over, why not those?

According to the wishlist:

https://www.gog.com/wishlist/games#search=buck

it is 1200+ votes for the game and after this thread maybe even more? ;)

Son any feedback is more then welcome and this is also a bit of promotion for this game and part of the discussion about What's new/old good around as some of us discussed in another thread (and somebody forgotten about ;) )

I doubt they'll ever be here, because it would require whoever holds the license to Buck Rogers to agree to it. It's rare for licensed stuff like that to find its way here.

The other SSI games are here because Dungeons & Dragons is the property of Wizards of the Coast, which has released a ton of Dungeons & Dragons stuff here.

ARAIK those are D&D as well, they are based on the same engine everything ;)

They use the same engine, but Buck Rogers as intellectual property isn't owned by SSI or Wizards of the Coast.

According to my knowledge it belonged to TSR, which had also the rights for the D&D ans also Buck Rogers:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TSR_%28company%29

And TSR was bought by Wizards of the Coast.

.....IN THE 24 1/2TH CEEEEEENTURY!
...
Huh? What do you mean, "that's not what we're talking about"? What?

I think the games are in legal limbo with the Dille Family having the license to the Buck Rogers franchise

According to this:

http://www.bizapedia.com/trademarks/BUCK-ROGERS-72100230.html

04/05/2011 C18. Cancelled Section 18-Total
04/05/2011 CANT Cancellation Terminated No. 999999
02/01/2011 CANG Cancellation Granted No. 999999
10/27/2009 PETC Cancellation Instituted No. 999999
04/16/2009 ARAA Attorney Revoked And/Or Appointed
04/16/2009 REAP Teas Revoke/Appoint Attorney Received
10/23/2008 CFIT Case File In Ticrs
07/12/2001 RNL2 Registered And Renewed (Second Renewal - 10 Yrs)
07/12/2001 89AG Registered - Sec. 8 (10-Yr) Accepted/Sec. 9 Granted
04/16/2001 89AF Registered - Combined Section 8 (10-Yr) & Sec. 9 Filed
10/25/1984 C15A Registered - Sec. 8 (6-Yr) Accepted & Sec. 15 Ack.
04/18/1981 REN1 Registered And Renewed (First Renewal - 20 Yrs)

So the game shall have no problems at all.
Edit replaced with better info from the same source

And here

http://tsdr.uspto.gov/documentviewer?caseId=sn72100230&docId=OPC20110707150905#docIndex=0&page=1

clearly stating, no copyright anymore.

Planet of Zoom is the one true Buck Rogers game.

But don't think a lot of people would buy it nowadays ;)

No, nothing to do with D&D, and the games were rather average in my opinion. The latter also explains why we didn't get Spelljammer despite it being based on D&D.

Spelljammer in the wishlist is only 400 votes, Buck rogers as mentioned 1200 +, so a wee bit of difference.;) But would be good to have this one as well.

And my mentioning of D&D, was as a reference to the other golden box games of SSI which were released here on GOG.

I would love to see these released. I enjoyed playing them both around the time the second one came out. I think I had a box release with both of them - maybe with another game, too. I was a big D&D fan, but I liked these more than most of the D&D games of the same time period. I encountered bugs playing both of them and was never able to finish either one. There are only a few RPGs that I started and never finished and I was disappointed that I couldn't finish these. I added my votes on all the wishlist listings.

Despite all that:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/buck-rogers-pitch-syfy-network-930661

It's not likely to come here soon. The legal mess surrounding Buck Rogers is just too big at the moment.

These are also linked in the article but I'll put them here too:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/film-producer-wants-buck-rogers-813616

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/judge-rejects-film-producers-bid-877683

[EDIT] Their trademark was denied. This has no relation to copyright. They are two different animals.

That said, the judge has allowed the Dille family to go forward as if they had the trademark despite not having the trademark. Isn't the US legal system fun?

[EDIT 2] And this is just the trademark. This isn't even copyright yet! Here's the thing:

Buck Rogers is technically public domain - but so long as the Dille family is willing to challenge all infringements it won't be officially public domain until a judge declares it so. The only way for that to happen is for someone to violate their copyright intentionally and risk losing in court and getting screwed over royally. That's what sucks and makes it unlikely for anything Buck Rogers to be made again. Hopefully Syfy will win this but even if they do a copyright lawsuit will come as soon as the series is aired. Hopefully they win that too.

hmmmm.... there would be a way around, if it is not in the US, it wouldn't matter ;)

The only thing there of interest, me thinks, is copyright and that has expired ;)

And according to

https://euipo.europa.eu/ohimportal/en/web/guest/search?p_p_id=3&p_p_lifecycle=0&p_p_state=normal&p_p_mode=view&_3_redirect=%2Fohimportal%2Fen&_3_struts_action=%2Fsearch%2Fsearch&_3_keywords=buck+rogers&_3_groupId=10162

nothing is being registered.

And I just pointed out (the bold) a slight mistake i your post ;)

As far as I can see, they only claim trademark, with rather weird claims......Display in the Smithsonian? Come on, shall now the Neanderthals come up with trademark as well?

Plus, Buck Rogers isn't really a mark, which would be needed for a trademark.

For example, Article 15(1) of TRIPS provides a definition for "sign". I do not remember ever having seen such a sign.

But I think the judge just didn't want to really make a decision.

But I still can't get over with, which F%^$inf mark are we talking about?