Crisis From: Bob McLain <mclain@tightbeam.com> Date: Wed, 13 Dec 1995 00:00:00 +0000 I ought to put this in the public record... I own worldwide rights to the play-by-mail game Crisis. There are currently three versions of Crisis running: two in England (by GbM and TimePatterns) and one in Europe (by PBM Express). These companies were not licensed by me to run Crisis, but there's nothing I can (or want) to do about it. The full story... Years ago, Rick Barr (the original owner and designer of Crisis) licensed the game to Games by Mail for operation in the U.K. Then Barr disappeared from sight for awhile. GbM claims they tried to reach Barr, then gave up -- and they also gave up paying royalties, since they couldn't 'confirm' a current address for Barr. (Rick Barr has had the same address for over 15 years.) Over time, GbM seems to have just taken over the game, without bothering to arrange legal transfer (which would have been impossible) or to inform Barr that they had taken his property. In July 1994 I called Rick Barr and negotiated the purchase of Crisis. We made a deal, and signed a contract. I paid him for worldwide rights. He specifically terminated GbM's license (which had, in any event, terminated as a matter of law due to lack of royalty payments). GbM had already given licenses to TimePatterns and PBM Express. I spoke with the other parties. GbM acknowledged my ownership of the game, and agreed not to license it to anyone else. I agreed to let prior licenses remain in force. That's all fine. I just want to record these facts for public record in the event that a U.S. company seeks to license Crisis, or one of the current licensees seek to export the game outside Europe. Crisis (my Crisis) is being reprogrammed. It's scheduled for beta test in spring 1996. Bob McLain Referenced By Up