To Aaron ( Independant Tex game)
Posted: November 17, 2005 • 10:58 am
Aaron I would Like to make a freeware Tex Murphy game using the AGS game engine. Would I have your permission to do so? 
Questions about Tex Murphy Legal rights (questions : 4)
Dr.Paul: Since you have the rights to Tex Murphy, then I presume that it is up to you to approve or deny permission to do fan-fiction or fan-game?
AC: I don’t own the rights personally – they belong to Indie Built, Inc., the studio that I work for (which is much better than being owned by Microsoft). Decisions regarding fan fictions and fan games would have to be made by the studio management, not me.
Dr.Paul: In particular, we have recently considered writing a TM fan-fic story with the intention of developing it into an interactive fiction text adventure game. What are the odds that we would have permission to do this and how involved would you expect to be?
AC: To get permission, I would put together a design document that outlines what the game is, how it will work, who it will be accessible to, what the content will be, etc. The more concise – yet thorough – the document is, the better its chances of being read by the right people. And then they would have to give you written permission to go forward with the project.
My role in such a project would depend on the nature of it, what you think I could do to help, and whether or not I had the time to participate. As for Indie Built, I don’t think they would want or need to be directly involved.
Dr.Paul: By involved, I mean things like making sure we don't defame the series or create something so bad that it will be an embarrassment. Also making sure that it is consistent with official Tex history. Basically, are we likely to get sued?
AC: As I said, if you lay everything out clearly and Indie Built gives its permission, there shouldn’t be any possibility of you getting sued.