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04.Aug.2026
amiga.com
Amiga announces out-of-court settlement with Hyperion
In a detailed press release, Amiga Corporation announces that it has signed two landmark agreements in recent weeks: one with Christian 'Perifractic' Simpson's Commodore International Corporation (CIC), and another out-of-court settlement with Hyperion, which replaces Hyperion's original contract from 2009.
CIC licenses software and documentation for Commodore's 8-bit computers from Amiga. In return, Amiga is permitted to continue using the Commodore trademarks in a "historical or descriptive context," such as old documentation, copyright notices in existing software, or as symbols on a keyboard.
The agreement with Hyperion does not change the status of AmigaOS 4 - which was never a point of contention, according to Amiga - but it does specify exactly which code and trademarks the Belgian company is permitted to use [under license from Amiga, editor’s note].
But Hyperion's involvement in the 68k market will end on December 31, 2027: the licensee may continue to distribute versions of AmigaOS 3 until then, including the as-yet-unreleased AmigaOS 3.3. After that, Hyperion will deliver source code, revision history, and documentation for AmigaOS 3.1.4 and its updates, including all fixes and updates, but excluding AmigaOS 4 code backported into AmigaOS 3.2 or 3.3, to Amiga Corporation and release the developers involved in the project from all obligations to Hyperion. Amiga itself will then take over further development of AmigaOS 3 in the future.
The full text of Amiga's press release:
Amiga August 2026 Update
New agreements<br>establish a clear framework for Commodore and Amiga technology, supporting<br>AmigaOS development, preservation, and new projects by Amiga and its licensees
Amiga Corporation today announced two agreements concluded within a few<br>weeks of one another. Amiga and Commodore International Corporation have<br>recognized their respective rights. A settlement with Hyperion Entertainment BV<br>resolves a contractual dispute and replaces its 2009 agreement with Amiga.
The agreements complement other rights and arrangements already in place,<br>some of which Amiga can now bring into active use.
The Commodore and Amiga Lineage
Amiga Corporation holds the registered and unregistered<br>copyrights in the works of the former Commodore and Amiga<br>companies. These include source code and binaries for CBM 8-bit and Amiga<br>software and firmware, together with hardware designs, manufacturing data,<br>documentation, marketing assets, and other materials. Amiga also owns the Amiga<br>trademarks. The chain of title includes rights previously preserved and<br>consolidated by Cloanto, together with additional rights acquired from other<br>sources.
Following the 1996 liquidation of Escom, one of Amiga's<br>predecessors in interest, the "Commodore" and "C=" trademarks followed a<br>separate path from the other assets. Tulip Computers acquired the trademarks and<br>used them for Commodore-branded PCs. Subsequent transfers brought the trademarks<br>to the present Commodore company. In the agreement, Amiga recognizes this<br>ownership. The copyrights in the historical software,<br>documentation, and other Commodore and Amiga works remained in the chain of<br>title now continued by Amiga. Under the same agreement, Amiga licenses CBM 8-bit<br>software and documentation to Commodore for use in its products.
Amiga<br>retains the right to use and reproduce the Commodore marks in historical and<br>descriptive contexts, including as they appear in original software,<br>documentation, notices, keyboard symbols, on-screen texts, and other content.
The agreement further confirms Amiga's continuing control of technical and<br>numbering resources historically associated with Commodore-Amiga, Commodore<br>Business Machines, Commodore Electronics, Commodore International, and other<br>now-defunct Commodore-formative entities: MAC address OUIs, IP address<br>allocations, port numbers, object identifiers, and other assignments used by<br>Amiga and its predecessors in connection with their systems and activities.
In August 1984, Commodore and Amiga brought their efforts together under<br>Commodore-Amiga, Inc., a name Amiga Corporation still uses as a registered DBA.<br>Forty-two years later, the circle is closing: apart from the "Commodore" and<br>"C=" marks, the principal rights and assets of the Commodore and Amiga eras rest<br>with Amiga.
AmigaOS 4 and 68K Continuity
Hyperion Entertainment<br>will continue to develop and distribute AmigaOS 4 under license from Amiga. The<br>rights in the independently developed AmigaOS 4 code have never been disputed,<br>and the new agreement preserves that position while clearly defining the Amiga<br>software and trademarks licensed for continued AmigaOS 4 development...