> TopWare is not the "legal successor" [...] you say?

Yes, TopWare is not the legal successor of Metropolis, the legal entity that Hyperion negotiated the license with. I already provided source for the information on who is the legal successor of Metropolis.
Metropolis' legal successor sells the game there: http://www.gog.com/game/gorky_17

> whatever you mean by that

http://www.google.com/search?q=%22legal+succession%22

> Is that something you just invented yourself

No, legal succession is an existing juridical concept, also existing in Poland (both Metropolis and CD Projekt were/are Polish companies):

http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukcesja_%28prawo%29

> som kind of "teh reeel!!1!" ownership as opposed to "normal" ownership?

Legal succession is not a kind of ownership but can be the cause for ownership. And ownership can indeed be partial between legal entities.

> I would actually presume they have their paper work in order

They can't even find Hyperion's address on their website, so... ;-)

>> The publisher claims it owns Gorky 17 lock, stock and barrel. This would mean the
>> developer's legal successor owns nought of it. We don't know whether this is true.

> Exactly.

Indeed :-)

> If Hyperion had a deal concerning this particular IP with an entity that no longer exists

...and got bought by another entity...

> ...or aren't the owners anymore

Then the question would be how they lost (partial) ownership.

> and the legal owners of the IP

Sole owners? (I know they claim it, but this doesn't automatically mean it's true.)

> I would bet my money on the IP owner winning...

...unless Hyperion's license is still valid. Temporally unrestricted licenses or licenses before expiration date do not simply go up in smoke when the licensor is bought by another legal entity.

We shall see how this unfolds...

Addendum:

> the 2002 Mac port published by e.p.i.c./Runesoft was done by Hyperion as well:
> http://anna.amigazeux.org/comments2.php?show=1071783886&number=11#comment

"the development company, which made the native Mac port for Runesoft made some mistakes, which results in errors in the game logic. That's why we decided to make a Wine port and do not use the native port."
http://steamcommunity.com/app/253920/discussions/0/520518053453566327/#c483366528923895209

;-)

Addendum:

> If we are to believe Hyperionmp, "Ben Hermans & family" are the sole owners of Hyperion
> Entertainment CVBA (and thus De Groote and Mincea its 2 non-owning employees). Thing
> is, a CVBA needs at least 3 shareholders [...] This means the 3 current, publicly known
> directors may all be shareholders. And as Mincea joined only recently, he may either have
> replaced a former, unknown shareholder or there may now be at least 4 of them. ...or,
> Hyperionmp tells the truth and Hyperion Entertainment CVBA is owned by Ben Hermans
> and 2 or more members of his family.

Thomas "Thor" Richter claims Hermans is not an owner of Hyperion any longer:

http://www.a1k.org/forum/showpost.php?p=947013 (German, sorry)

Unfortunately, he doesn't provide any evidence for his claim.

Quote:

Still listed as a manager / administrator: Belgian Company Registy

> Still listed as a manager / administrator

As far as I can see, these are the director positions, not necessarily the owners/shareholders. These two don't have to occur in personal union (and according to Hermans they don't in case of De Groote at least). "Director" can also be an employed position.

Quote:
Of course. But you may want to consider the original statement in its full context: "Hyperion Ben Hermans gar nicht mehr gehört, sondern das Management ein anderes ist..."

I am not the one who started to conflate the directors with the owners...

> I am not the one who started to conflate the directors with the owners...

Indeed, that's what Thor did. And there is also another statement by him where he calls Hyperion a two-man outfit and mentions Timothy (De Groote) afterwards (implying Mincea as the second man):

http://www.a1k.org/forum/showpost.php?p=947132

But as I wrote earlier, a CVBA needs at least 3 shareholders. As per your link, the directors are still Hermans, De Groote and Mincea. Confusing, and I wonder what Thor's agenda is with regards to Hyperion and his attempt at making it seem as if Hermans was out of the picture.

Quote:
Not everybody has a hidden agenda. Some people are just mistaken

> Not everybody has a hidden agenda. Some people are just mistaken :-)

Assuming he doesn't have an agenda and he's not just making things up, he must have drawn his conclusion of Hermans not being an Hyperion owner anymore from something. I wonder what this something could be. And we know he has been in at least sporadic contact with Hyperion (P96 licensing, layers.library).

Addendum:

>> That is a little unclear from previous statements made by HyperionMP.

> If we are to believe Hyperionmp, "Ben Hermans & family" are the sole owners
> of Hyperion Entertainment CVBA (and thus De Groote and Mincea its 2 non-owning
> employees). [...] I guess we won't know for sure until someone purchases these
> information from the Belgian company register :-)

cgutjahr over at amigaworld.net claims that Hyperion director De Groote is also co-owner/shareholder the company.

http://amigaworld.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=40683&forum=32&start=140#787476


Edit: Statements from an interview with Timothy De Groote over there.

[ Edited by Andreas_Wolf 09.05.2017 - 00:30 ]