This post: https://dogarandkazon.squarespace.com/blog/2017/12/1/there-were-many-great-battles-and-some-of-them-involved-lawyers was forwarded on to me.

Which is very odd and contrary to the spirit to the correspondence we've had with Paul and Fred for the past 4 years and would have been better handled if they would have let the lawyers work it out.

I'm sure the lawyers will sort this out but for you guys to understand what's happening:

In 2013, Stardock acquired the rights to Star Control.  This included all the publishing rights Accolade had from 1988 as they were explicitly transferred to us.

As some of you know, we have publicly stated that we do not intend to use the aliens from the classic series without Paul and Fred's involvement. Nothing has changed.

Moreover, with Paul and Fred's recent announcement that they plan to return to their Ur-Quan universe we are seeking to release them from all restrictions placed on that IP so that they can work on that game unhindered.

Thus, we have tried to codify in a legal document that Stardock is returning any and all rights Stardock may have to their IP to them.  The publishing agreement, which we have and Paul signed is a perpetual, exclusive license for that IP.  According to that agreement, Paul and Fred can't use any of that IP as its exclusivity is perpetual.  Our proposal has been to officially restore all their rights so that they can create Ghosts of the Precursors without any fear of future headaches.

The second point they make is regarding the sale and distribution of Star Control 1,2,3.  As many of you know, Star Control 1/2/3 has been for sale online long before Stardock acquired the rights from Atari.  Those rights transferred to us.  I'm not sure what "permission" we need to be given.

As for whether the Ur-Quan universe is connected to Star Control, that should be self-evident.  Star Control II is literally called the Ur-Quan Masters.  In order to de-tangle Star Control III from Star Control II we set up the Star Control universe as a multiverse.  As should be obvious, Stardock was not involved in the creation of Star Control II or Star Control III.  Thus, it is a mystery to us as to how someone could blame us for any confusion that exists between those two games.  Our job has been to try to clean that up so that they could continue their Ur-Quan Masters story without having to deal with the events of Star Control III.

Regarding whether they need "our" permission to make Ghosts of the Precursors.  Our goal is to eliminate that requirement.  Paul and Fred were the ones who made that agreement with Accolade, not Stardock.   We simply inherited that agreement -- the agreement that explicitly states that all of the licensed IP would be exclusively held by the publisher in perpetuity and that the developer may not, under any circumstances make sequels or derivatives of that IP.  We, Stardock, want them to create Ghosts of the Precursors.   For that to be done, there needs to be an official document that releases them from that exclusivity.

Otherwise, imagine a future where Stardock were acquired by a public company. What do you think they would do to Paul and Fred?  Hence, the need for lawyers to draw up an agreement that transfers any and all rights we have to that IP so that they have absolute freedom to do with it as they please. And it should be noted, we're not asking for anything in return.  We simply want to clean up this loose end.

Stardock has made some considerable sacrifices to pave the way for Paul and Fred to return to their Ur-Quan universe.  We can't retroactively change the fact that they signed a very onerous agreement with Accolade all those years ago.  All we can do is offer to release them from it.  And yes, that involves lawyers writing up words on a piece of paper to sign.

Generally speaking, we're not sure why we're even being brought into this at all.  Whatever issues they had with their former partner should have been resolved years before we acquired Star Control.  All we can do now is show as much restraint in trying to find out what is they ware hoping to accomplish.