🚀 go-pugleaf

I'm working on a new arcade game for the Mac.  It started out as a clone of
an old (c. 1983-84) video game I used to play in high school, but has since
been added to extensively.  The new game is essentially the old game plus
a whole lot more; but the old game is still there and easily recognizable
by anyone who ever spent time with the original.

Is there a potential copyright problem here?  Assuming the company that made
the game is still around, would it be prudent to contact them?  If the
company isn't around any more, do I have to do anything?

It's difficult to describe the similarities between the two games without
getting specific, and I'm not at liberty to do so.  But it's kind of like
the difference between Blasteroids and the original Asteroids.  Blasteroids
is like an ultra-enhanced Asteroids.  If I was making Blasteroids, would
I have anything to worry about from the makers of Asteroids?  (Sorry if
you're not familiar with Blasteroids, but that's the best example I could
think of.)

BTW, is there a more appropriate newsgroup for this discussion?

Later,

Mike.
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Michael A. Kelly                                               Senior Partner
mkelly@cs.uoregon.edu                                      High Risk Ventures
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