Copyright is a complicated subject but one that I have done a great deal of research into, specifically, on the feasibility of a Lords of Magic remake. Needless to say I am not a lawyer, so the below should be taken as an educated commentary, not legal advice! My comments below assume Rebellion Games are the current holders of copyright in this case.
So firstly, any product published to the general public is automatically covered by copyright law, this still applies to Lords of Magic.
However, I would quote the following from someone more legally minded than me : "Copyright does not protect the idea for a game, its name or title, or the method or methods for playing it. Nor does copyright protect any idea, system, method, device, or trademark material involved in developing, merchandising, or playing a game. Once a game has been made public, nothing in the copyright law prevents others from developing another game based on similar principles. Copyright protects only the particular manner of an author’s expression in literary, artistic, or musical form."
Lords of Magic isn't covered under copyright for its game mechanics and systems, and to be honest these are not particularly unique at all, even back in 1997.
There have been numerous cases of powerful game companies testing this law, as they try and protect their latest money making bottom feeder games like Candy Crush from App Store clones.
These scumbag game companies are trying to get around this now by patenting certain game mechanics, but this can only be applied in a very specific way. This is a worrying trend, as if every game developer did this it would completely stifle any design evolution in the industry, and is particularly bad for indie devs who don't have the resources to fight these court battles. One of the most infamous examples of this being the nemesis system in Shadow of War by Warner Bros.
Anyway, no such patient applies for Lords of Magic, though the current license holder could attempt a retrospective patient. But I'm not sure how this would work on a game over 20 years old.
So, to summarize, Lords of Magic is protected under copyright as an artistic expression. Thus, if a remake were to be made, as a literal clone of the original, it would infringe upon that copyright.
This is where developers will need to be cautious, in my 3D LOM artwork, I have tried to build upon and improve the original game artwork, not copy or clone it, while still maintaining that nostalgic feel. So if my artwork is used in a remake, I do not believe it would infringe on copyright.
To give an example of where a remake could potentially cause infringement of copyright, Rebellion Games could argue that the faith wheel in the UI is a unique artistic expression, and therefore copyrighted. So if a remake were to be amde, the artist would need to ensure that the faith wheel is redesigned sufficiently as to differentiate it from the original.
The very fact that a remake would be in 3D and the original in highly pixelated sprites, would also help strengthen the case against a spurious copyright claim.
There is a trade Mark registered for the name "Lords of Magic", and names identifiable like "Urak" "Balkoth" are protected under copyrigth as a literacy expression. While these names are recognizable within the LOM community, I would strongly advise against publishing a remake using these identifiable names, you are literally asking for a lawsuit or cease and desist letter through your door.
It's simply not worth it, game companies will always act in their own self-interest, the larger companies are particularly ruthless. If "Lords of Magic 2" becomes successful and they think they can win in a copyright claim, they will take you to court. Expect the worst from these companies. The idea that the current license holder is going to give away the copyright, or sell it for anything any one of us could afford, is sadly naive.
The above assumes that a sequel would be a commercial venture, but much of it still applies even if LOM2 were to be offered free to play as the license holder can still claim infringement. Game companies have in the past closed down non-profit indie dev projects for copyright claims, all it takes is a cease and desist to kill a fan made love project.
Personally, I think a sequel should be a commercial venture, as this will ensure the game has enough resources for continued development and expansions. The Lords of Magic community is passionate, but we are a small group, the Reddit only has 300 followers, and this game did not have the cultural impact that other more popular 90s games had. I doubt a good quality sequel could be made on donations alone given the size of our community.
So to close the above points, people should not be discouraged against a Lords of Magic sequel, but it should be done in such a way that the sequel is an evolution of the artistic expression of the game, and not a clone. A Lords of Magic spiritual successor is absolutely feasible, if done right.
