AI Generated Image
Ultima's creator Richard Garriott is planning to win back the rights to his legendary RPG from EA with an 50-year-old copyright quirk
Eurogamer • • technology
Key Points:
- Ultima designer Richard Garriott plans to reclaim the copyright to the Ultima RPG series from EA using Section 203 of the Copyright Act of 1976, which allows original creators to reclaim copyrights after 35 years.
- EA acquired the Ultima rights in 1992 and has not released a major new Ultima game since 2013, but recent trademark filings suggest EA may be preparing to revive or protect the franchise.
- Garriott's strategy involves submitting a signed statement to the copyright office next year to regain copyright ownership, though this would not grant him the trademark rights to use the Ultima brand name.
- While reclaiming copyright would allow Garriott to create a game similar to Ultima, he would not be able to use the Ultima name itself due to trademark protections held by EA.
- Garriott acknowledges the challenge ahead in developing a new project under "Lord British's Ultima" once he regains the original work's copyrights.
