History of the AmigaOS 4 dispute
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The following history of the AmigaOS 4 dispute documents the legal battle mainly between the companies Amiga, Inc. and Hyperion Entertainment over the operating system AmigaOS 4.[1][2] On 30 September 2009, Hyperion and Amiga, Inc. reached a settlement agreement where Hyperion was granted an exclusive, perpetual and worldwide right to distribute and use 'The Software', a term used during the dispute and subsequent settlement to refer to source code from AmigaOS 3 and earlier, and ownership of AmigaOS 4.x and beyond.
Background
Amiga, Inc.
After
Hyperion's OS4 project
The supposed rebirth of Amiga
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/24/AmigaOne_X1000_02.jpg/240px-AmigaOne_X1000_02.jpg)
In 2007
The dispute
Four days after
Amiga, Inc. also said that its contract allowed Hyperion to use Amiga trademarks in the promotion of OS4 on Eyetech's AmigaOne and stipulated that Hyperion should make its best efforts to deliver OS 4 by March 1, 2002, a port of an elderly operating system (68k) for an entirely different processor architecture (PowerPC) in four months, an optimistic target that Hyperion failed to meet.
According to Amiga, Inc., the contract permits the purchase of the full sources of OS4 from Hyperion for US$25,000. The court filing says that Amiga, Inc. paid this sometime in April–May 2003, to keep Hyperion from going bankrupt, and that between then and November 21, 2006, Amiga, Inc. paid another $7,200, then $8,850 more which it says Hyperion said was owing.
Furthermore, in the filing, Amiga, Inc. President Bill McEwen revealed that Amiga, Inc. still hasn't received the sources for AmigaOS 4, that he's discovered that much of its development was outsourced to third-party contract developers and that it is not clear if Hyperion has all the rights to this external work. Eventually, after five years and $41,050, on 21 November 2006, Amiga, Inc. told Hyperion it had violated the contract and gave it 30 days to sort it out—to finish the product and hand over the sources. That did not happen, so the contract was terminated.[8] on 20 December 2006. Hyperion claims in its defense that Amiga, Inc. rendered the contract null through dealings with KMOS, a company which acquired the Amiga assets and renamed itself Amiga, Inc. over 2004–05.[9]
Four days later, on 24 December 2006, Hyperion released the final version of OS4 – although according to Amiga, Inc., Hyperion claims that this was merely an update of the developers' preview version of 16 April 2004. Since the contract ended, Hyperion had no rights to use the name AmigaOS or any Amiga
For a time, the case seemed deadlocked with neither side being apparently able to prove the point either way. Without Amiga, Inc.'s permission, Hyperion Entertainment could not use the AmigaOS name or related trademarks. Hyperion's defense centered around the potentially contract-voiding nature of the Amiga, Inc./KMOS handover, the problems they faced in acquiring the post-Commodore OS 3.x source code which Amiga, Inc. claimed to own and have access to, and the presence of new work and open components in the new operating system.
Hyperion Entertainment and Amiga, Inc. agreement
On 30 September 2009, Hyperion Entertainment and Amiga, Inc. reached a settlement agreement where Hyperion was granted, "an exclusive, perpetual, worldwide right to AmigaOS 3.1 in order to use, develop, modify, commercialize, distribute and market AmigaOS 4.x.[11]
References
- ^ "Amiga, Inc. vs. Hyperion VOF". Justia. 2007-04-26. Retrieved 2009-07-26.
- ^ "The trials of the Amiga continue". The Inquirer. 2007-05-03. Archived from the original on November 21, 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-26.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Amino Development Buys Amiga Name, Inventory From Gateway". 1999-12-31. Archived from the original on 2010-11-06. Retrieved 2010-09-03.
- ^ "Amiga, Inc. v Hyperion VOF filing 28". Retrieved 2009-07-27.
- ^ "Amiga is not dead". The Inquirer. 2007-04-26. Archived from the original on November 21, 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-26.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "New Hardware Designs and New Hardware Coming from ACK Software Controls, Inc. and Amiga, Inc". Amiga, Inc. 2007-04-22. Archived from the original on 2009-07-03. Retrieved 2009-07-26.
- ^ "Power Design Details from ACK Software Controls and Amiga". Amiga, Inc. 2007-05-26. Archived from the original on 2007-12-16. Retrieved 2009-07-26.
- ^ "Amiga Operating System". Amiga, Inc. Archived from the original on 2009-07-14. Retrieved 2009-07-26.
- ^ "KMOS acquired Amiga, Inc". OSNews.com. Retrieved 2009-07-27.
- ^ "Hyperion Entertainment". Retrieved 2009-07-26.
- ^ "Hyperion, Amiga, Inc. Reach Settlement, All Legal Issues Resolved". OSNews. 2009-10-17. Retrieved 2009-10-18.