I wrote this up about relicensing the Unix port of SimCity that I did for DUX Software as free open source software under GPL3 for the OLPC (which runs Linux):

"It's a good idea not to just keep a copy of the source code stashed away somewhere, but also any contracts relating to the rights to the code."

https://donhopkins.com/home/micropolis/dux-maxis-contract.tx...

https://donhopkins.com/home/micropolis/dux-don-hopkins-contr...

https://donhopkins.com/home/micropolis/olpc-ea-contract.pdf

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13693675

DonHopkins on Feb 21, 2017 | parent | context | favorite | on: Development content accidentally shipped on a DOS ...

It's a good idea not to just keep a copy of the source code stashed away somewhere, but also any contracts relating to the rights to the code.

In the early 90's, DUX Software licensed the rights to port SimCity to Unix from Maxis. Then DUX made a contract with me to do the work. I kept a copy of my contract with DUX, the original floppies they gave me with the original PC and Mac source code, as well as versions of the source code I ported to Unix.

Years later I got a job working for Maxis on The Sims. Before we shipped it, EA bought Maxis, so a lot of people were let go, projects were canceled, physical and digital files were shuffled around, and institutional knowledge was lost.

After we shipped The Sims but just before I left EA, on a fluke, I asked a Maxis old-timer if he had any idea if the contract between Maxis and DUX for SimCity still existed, and where it might be.

As you would expect, it was in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying "Beware of the Leopard." ;(

So I waited late into the night for the leopard to fall asleep, made a photocopy of it, then returned the original to its hiding place. ;)

Several years later, John Gilmore suggested we persuade EA to relicense the SimCity source code under GPLv3, so it could be shipped with the OLPC.

Of course nobody in EA Management knew where the source code was or if it even still existed, but fortunately I still had my copy.

And of course nobody at EA Legal even knew if EA owned the rights to the changes I'd made (Maxis had gotten into some pretty terrible SimCity licensing contracts in the past).

But fortunately I'd kept a copy of the contract between myself and DUX, and the contract between DUX and Maxis, proving its provenance, which clearly stated that DUX's rights expired after 10 years, after which the rights to all the modifications I made went back to Maxis (and thus were inherited by EA).

Once all that was cleared up, the most important factor was that EA deputized someone on the inside to shepherd the project through the various stages of approval, relicensing, development and QA. Otherwise it would have died on the vine, since everybody in a big company, no matter how well intentioned, is always 500% busy doing their own stuff and can't be distracted by something that doesn't affect the bottom line.

It finally made it through both EA Legal and QA, and we released the SimCity source code and binary for the OLPC under GPLv3!

https://github.com/SimHacker/micropolis/tree/master/micropol...