Edwin Pilobello writes:
> You could also get some collaborators, like me, to suggest how kids might
> want to have the titles edited or adapted to their needs.  Imagine
> approaching Disney with "Hey you know what, I have this new update that
> really works!"  Since you wrote the first program, you actually have
> Intellectual Property rights.  Then it's just a matter of how good your
> lawyers are at bargaining for royalty.  33% agent's commission to the
greedy
> lawyers ought to set you up pretty good!

Well, I don't have any lawyers, but I can assure you this is a beartrap I
know better than to step into.

Actually, I don't have the rights to the code - it belonged the the company
I worked for (actually started, Gryphon Software), which was sold to CUC
International in 1997, which was itself merged into HFS to form Cendant,
which then sold the entire software business to Havas (along with Knowledge
Adventure, Davidson, Sierra, Blizzard, Berkeley Systems, Papyrus, Dynamix,
etc., etc.).  Disney has no rights to the code, but neither do I.

The Disney art, however, is clearly 100% Disney's, and I can assure you
there's no way on this earth or any other (like, for instance, the one ruled
by apes) that I could do what you're saying.  Trust me.  I've done business
with them.  I wouldn't just end up in a maximum security prison - they'd
make me also wear a Tinkerbell outfit.  It might have been remotely possible
if SqC were still part of the Mouse, but I suspect no longer.

On the other hand, were one to get one's hands on a LKAC CD-ROM (perhaps in
the bargain bin of your local software superstore - and despite the box
label, they're all hybrid), a knowledgeable Mac programmer armed with
ResEdit might find be amused at what she might find.  One small catch is
that the animations use a custom QuickTime codec of my design that was
optimized to do 640x480 12 fps composited Disney-style animation from a
single-speed CDROM on a 33MHz 486/ Macintosh LC, a typical kids machine of
that era.

There was no attempt to obfuscate the data, as the thinking at the time was
that nobody in their right mind would extract 600MB (!) of animation, audio
and graphics.  Where could you possibly put it all?

I am, of course, specifically advising you not to do that.

-- Duane