Paradox Entertainment
Encyclopedia
Paradox Entertainment owns rights to many intellectual properties
, the most famous of which is Conan the Barbarian
as created by pulp author Robert E. Howard
and expanded upon by many other authors over the years. Other properties include Bran Mak Morn
, Kull, Solomon Kane
, Mutant, Mutant Chronicles
, Warzone, Kult
, and Chronopia. Former licences include Heavy Gear
.
Paradox Entertainment asserts that the company own the rights to all of Robert E. Howard's stories and characters. They arguably would have a trademark
on the character names for marketing purposes, but there is no evidence that their claims of owning copyright
on the original stories and characters are valid. Howard's stories were published at a time when the copyrights had to be explicitly renewed to continue, and there is no record of this ever happening. The copyright status of all of Howard's works published during his life are thus in question. In the United Kingdom, 70 years after the death of an author his works fall into the public domain
and as such the works of Robert E. Howard have now fallen into the public domain there.
Paradox Entertainment is publicly listed in Stockholm, Sweden, but all business is conducted from the main office in Los Angeles, USA.
Paradox Interactive
, based in Stockholm, is no longer a part of Paradox Entertainment.
On August 21, 2011 the day the Conan movie opened, SLMI sued Paradox Entertainment
, Conan Sales Co., Arthur Lieberman and other over the rights to Conan
as they claim Conan was improperly transferred to Conan Sales Co. and sold to Paradox.
Intellectual property
Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...
, the most famous of which is Conan the Barbarian
Conan the Barbarian
Conan the Barbarian is a fictional sword and sorcery hero that originated in pulp fiction magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, several films , television programs, video games, roleplaying games and other media...
as created by pulp author Robert E. Howard
Robert E. Howard
Robert Ervin Howard was an American author who wrote pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. Best known for his character Conan the Barbarian, he is regarded as the father of the sword and sorcery subgenre....
and expanded upon by many other authors over the years. Other properties include Bran Mak Morn
Bran Mak Morn
Bran Mak Morn is a hero of several pulp fiction short stories by Robert E. Howard. In the stories, most of which were first published in Weird Tales, Bran is the last king of Howard's romanticized version of the tribal race of Picts....
, Kull, Solomon Kane
Solomon Kane
Solomon Kane is a fictional character created by the pulp-era writer Robert E. Howard. A late 16th / early 17th century Puritan, Solomon Kane is a sombre-looking man who wanders the world with no apparent goal other than to vanquish evil in all its forms...
, Mutant, Mutant Chronicles
Mutant Chronicles
Mutant Chronicles is a pen-and-paper role-playing game set in a post-apocalyptic world, originally published in 1993. It has spawned a franchise of collectible card games, miniature wargames, video games, novels, comic books, and a film of the same title based on the game world.Mutant Chronicles...
, Warzone, Kult
Kult
Kult is a contemporary fantasy horror role-playing game originally designed by Gunilla Jonsson and Michael Petersén, first published in Sweden by Target Games in 1991. The first English edition was published in 1993 by Metropolis Ltd., a now defunct American publisher...
, and Chronopia. Former licences include Heavy Gear
Heavy Gear
Heavy Gear is a game universe published since 1994 by Canadian publisher Dream Pod 9. It includes a tabletop tactical wargame, a role-playing game and a lesser known combat card game...
.
Paradox Entertainment asserts that the company own the rights to all of Robert E. Howard's stories and characters. They arguably would have a trademark
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
on the character names for marketing purposes, but there is no evidence that their claims of owning copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
on the original stories and characters are valid. Howard's stories were published at a time when the copyrights had to be explicitly renewed to continue, and there is no record of this ever happening. The copyright status of all of Howard's works published during his life are thus in question. In the United Kingdom, 70 years after the death of an author his works fall into the public domain
Public domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
and as such the works of Robert E. Howard have now fallen into the public domain there.
Paradox Entertainment is publicly listed in Stockholm, Sweden, but all business is conducted from the main office in Los Angeles, USA.
Paradox Interactive
Paradox Interactive
-External links:*...
, based in Stockholm, is no longer a part of Paradox Entertainment.
On August 21, 2011 the day the Conan movie opened, SLMI sued Paradox Entertainment
Paradox Entertainment
Paradox Entertainment owns rights to many intellectual properties, the most famous of which is Conan the Barbarian as created by pulp author Robert E. Howard and expanded upon by many other authors over the years. Other properties include Bran Mak Morn, Kull, Solomon Kane, Mutant, Mutant...
, Conan Sales Co., Arthur Lieberman and other over the rights to Conan
Conan the Barbarian
Conan the Barbarian is a fictional sword and sorcery hero that originated in pulp fiction magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, several films , television programs, video games, roleplaying games and other media...
as they claim Conan was improperly transferred to Conan Sales Co. and sold to Paradox.