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[Karen H.]

I want to make a new version of an old game.  The purpose is to learn how to make a sidescrolling action game.  I do NOT wish to sell this, make a profit, or claim the original game as my own, but I do want to put it on a website.  The game will remain mostly the same, but I want to put in my own, enhanced graphics.

Is this project covered under Fair Use?  Could I get myself into a lawsuit for doing this?  (If it helps any, the company appears to have fallen off the face of the planet)

[Linton Robinson]

I'm no attourney, but I would think if you give credit to the game and are not charging people for it you are home free.  Maybe you should get permission from the game's owners while inquiring if they would pay anything to have the version you are working on?

[Isaac]

There is the possibility of copyright infringement when you
make a work alike game.  You might copy elements of copyrightable
graphics, or other expression.  There is also the possibility of
non literal infringement in which no code copying occurs but some
copyrightable elements of the user interface are duplicated.
In at least some federal circuits anyway.  The tests for
copyrightable elements differ somewhat from circuit to circuit.

But if there is infringement, acknowledging the source will do
nothing to cure it.  Don't confuse plagiarism (which is largely
an ethics problem unless fraud is involved) with copyright
infringement which is a legal problem.