So a top Squeenix exec has come right out and said that there will be no further Chrono games in the foreseeable future because sales of the DS version of CT haven't been (in their opinion) high enough. They're effectively saying that the IP associated with the Chrono series is of no value to them.
They don't want it.
We do.
So why not offer to buy it from them?
Yes, I'm serious, I'm not a crazed student with no notion of how things work in the real world, and I've thought this through, or tried to. I know I am not talking about something small, easy, or cheap. There are a whole bunch of obvious catches, but also a whole bunch of obvious benefits.
CON: -This can't be done through Square Enix USA--it would have to be taken to Square Enix Japan, with everything that implies...but at least we've got the name of a person that it would be appropriate to contact (if Hashimoto-san dislikes the Chrono series that much, he ought to embrace the idea of selling it off, ne?). Still, everything is going to have to be done through a translator. Making contact is the vital first step. If we don't do that, nothing else matters.
-Once they find out that someone wants these rights, Squeenix is not going to let them go cheaply, and they are likely to start with an asking price that no amount of fundraising could produce. They will have to be bargained down.
-If we can get them down to a reasonable price, we then have to begin the fundraising effort to end all fundraising efforts, and it can't be done here at the Compendium under its present set of rules. We'd need a website, major publicity work, and an honest person (or, ideally, several honest people) to hold the funds. It might take years--that's what happened when the Open Source community decided to buy out Blender's original rights-holders. That example, however, while it's in an unrelated field, is part of the reason why I don't think this is impossible.
PRO: -This isn't like dealing with a single-creator universe, where the creator has an emotional investment in his work. IP really is just property to these people, and they will let it go if we make it worth their while.
-If we can buy out the IP rights, there will be no more C&D letters. We can fling the entire Chronoverse open to fanworks of all types, without any risk to anyone.
-Crimson Echoes. No, I'm serious about that, too. Even if all beta testers have destroyed their copies, if the impediment of the C&D were removed, I'm sure the original team could reconstruct it from available assets in no more than a few months.
-If we get lucky, Squeenix might even throw in development docs/source code/other previously unavailable information.
-It sets a bloody big and very likely important precendent regarding companies who are holding IP rights they have no further use for. This is the real reason why it's worth doing.
-Perhaps most important, it would give this community something positive to do and bring it out of mourning.
I can't make a serious run at this alone. If this project is ever to get off the ground, it's going to need many people, all working together. But perhaps, if a lot of us pitch in, we can make Squeenix at least sit up and take a second look at what it's doing.
WHO THE HELL DO THEY THINK WE ARE, ANYWAY?!
