Recently I had a colleague of mine ask me what is in Public Domain with Pinball Titles.
His interest is not in the function but more of artwork aspect of games.

I am not a lawyer by any means but was curious when the Artwork, Logo's, Fonts and Design
aspects of games go into the public domain.

Sorry if this has been asked before, I'm just curious if eventually some of these titles will no longer
be able to be licensed. Many titles are hitting a 40 year mark.

I also wondered if from a Technology standpoint. What is patented. If we design a game using
Williams or Bally sling and solenoids are we going to have to pony up? Then there are the themes
where a movie studio might own rights. How doe these get factored in. I've heard
BBC has made repoing plastic sets a PITA along with Cabinet art and Dalek toppers.

These are issues I think may cause many of us to hesitate in making things. .

Thanks for any help

Thanks everyone. That really clears up some of what is in the realm of possibility.

Not entirely sure what he has planned but I'm thinking he is out of luck leveraging
logos and game names on his designs without some legal research and $. Fortunately
he was just spitballing ideas and hadn't put to much time into anything.