Atari Art and Copyright

[atarimind]

Hi - I am wondering if anyone has looked as licensing some of the Atari Art to create a boardgame (e.g. art of ET, Defender, etc). Any thoughts?

[atarimind]

I guess that I find my answer: https://www.atari.com/atari-licensing/

[Shawn]

I guess that I find my answer: https://www.atari.com/atari-licensing/

 

That company who currently owns the name Atari does not own the rights to anywhere near as much as you might think. They whore the name Atari and have some assets but most of what you are seeking is owned by other people and other companies. The original Atari company of the late 70's to the early 90's is long gone and most of the properties where sold off piecemeal over the years. A company named Infogrames re-branded themselves as Atari once they had enough of those leftovers to do so.

[Raiu]

That's true, but I'm pretty sure Infogrames/Atari currently holds the rights to the console artwork. The arcade artwork is ... probably owned by Warner Bros again (though I'm not really sure they realize it).

[+D Train]

You might want to check in with Tim Lapetino who wrote The Art of Atari. He posts here as lapetino

I am sure that he might have some idea as to who hold artwork rights these days

[mr_me]

According to this web site Atari/Infogrames didn't just buy the atari assets from hasbro, they bought the company. Prior to that, Hasbro bought the atari assets from JTS/Tramiel, who bought all the Atari golden age video game assets in 1984.

https://mcurrent.name/atarihistory/hiac_xi.html

 

I know, in 2013, when Atari/Infogrames had financial problems they sold off some assets that included Battlezone; was anything else, Atari related, sold off?

 

If you want to do something with ET, I'd think you'd talk to Spielberg. Although Defender was a Williams game, I think the cartridge box art was Atari's.

Edited March 31, 2019 by mr_me

[Shawn]

You might want to check in with Tim Lapetino who wrote The Art of Atari. He posts here as lapetino

 

I am sure that he might have some idea as to who hold artwork rights these days

 

Bingo!

[bugcatcher88]

I know, in 2013, when Atari/Infogrames had financial problems they sold off some assets that included Battlezone; was anything else, Atari related, sold off?

 

From what I found, four classic Atari IP were sold during the 2013 bankruptcy auction. Battlezone (Arcade, etc.) was sold to Rebellion.

Math Gran Prix (2600), Robo-Squash (Lynx), Warbirds (Lynx) were sold to Tommo, Inc. (I'm not 100% if that Warbirds was the Lynx game or a different game with the same name).

 

https://docs.bmcgroup.com/Atari/nysb_1-13-bk-10176_313.pdf

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/196701/Wargaming_Rebellion_and_Stardock_all_bid_on_Atari_assets.php

[+cvga]

I wonder why someone would want to buy the rights to Math Gran Prix. Odd

[jhd]

I wonder why someone would want to buy the rights to Math Gran Prix. Odd

 

Was it sold separately, or as part of a larger bundle of properties?

 

I could see it being sold as part of a larger lot of more desirable IP (though paring it with Lynx games makes little sense, too).

[+slx]

As the current Atari Zombie company seems to use licensing as its main income, they‘d probably ask for inflated amounts. They should not be supported for going after fans selling Atari-inspired T-Shirts, etc., I.e. the very community keeping their name and legacy alive.

 

 

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[Zwackery]

I wonder why someone would want to buy the rights to Math Gran Prix. Odd

 

BECAUSE IT IS AWESOME!

 

Next question...

[roadrunner]

Atari's Transformers for the PS2 was a great game!