Obsolete Video Games Now Legal to Own

zerolives · Post by **zerolives** » Fri Oct 31, 2003 4:02 pm

http://www.gamepro.com/gamepro/domestic ... 1559.shtml

News by: Aki Sugawara
31-OCT-03
The Library of Congress has recently granted copyright exemptions in the Digital Millenium Act to obsolete games. The exemption applies to games that require the original hardware as a condition of access, and if the game is ?no longer manufactured or reasonably available in the commercial marketplace.? This means that old, unsupported PC, console and arcade games will now be legal to own (so your illegal copy of Mame roms are now legit). The only muddy side is if publishers consider their old games to be ?reasonably available? and plan to release classic games as bundles or bonuses, then the copyright protection still stands.

The Digital Millenium Copyright Act, or DMCA was passed on October 12, 1998 to address piracy and copyright concerns specifically pertaining to software and the internet properties. Some of the notable provisions included the outlawed circumvention of anti-piracy laws and distrubition or sale of code-cracking devices. Brewster Kahle from the non-profit company Internet Archive petitioned the US Copyright office, and to the delightful surprise of many, the petition was approved.

While game companies will undoubtedly cling on to as many of the old games as they can, many of the older unsupported titles are now free game. Those who have been downloading such games can now keep them in their hard drives with a clear conscience.

Matt · Post by **Matt** » Fri Oct 31, 2003 4:36 pm

Im not convinced, Ninty won't let anyone take Mario Roms

Nyarlathotep · Post by **Nyarlathotep** » Fri Oct 31, 2003 4:45 pm

mattthemodder wrote:Im not convinced, Ninty won't let anyone take Mario Roms

Possibly because claiming there is nowhere selling hardware that plays Super Mario Bros or game cartridges of it could be dismissed by a lawyer with a GBA?

Phantom · Post by **Phantom** » Fri Oct 31, 2003 5:32 pm

http://www.dcemulation.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=40810

Anyway, the only thing it means is that you're allowed to circumvent copy protections in games for obsolete systems. It does not mean that you can freely copy those games.

Wasgo · Post by **Wasgo** » Fri Oct 31, 2003 7:47 pm

The article is completely inaccurate and I hope Gamepro gets sued for it. The DMCA is about making circumvention illegal. Exemptions allow you to circumvent encryption to make use of owned products, it is not an exemption to the copyright act.

For example, there is passage about Ebooks similar to the one about obsolete games. What that part means is that circumventing protection to make use of the text-to-speech capabilities is allowed. It does not mean any ebooks that are only sold encrypted can be stolen, only that ones you already own can be decrypted.

Long live accurate reporting.

Veggita2099 · Post by **Veggita2099** » Fri Oct 31, 2003 8:05 pm

mattthemodder wrote:Im not convinced, Ninty won't let anyone take Mario Roms

name me some mario games taht are not on a modern system?

Mario 1 can be bought at any wal-mart for GB color
Mario 2 GBA
Mario 3 GBA
Yoshi's Island GBA
Mario World GBA

jtaylor · Post by **jtaylor** » Fri Oct 31, 2003 8:52 pm

Nintendo has made thier views of emulation clear. Last time I was on thier website, there was a whole page explaining thier official policy. I seem to remember them using the words "illegal" and "pirate" in that statement. Maybe companies will declare some games free, and rom images of them will be ok.

Nintendo is a little behind because NES and SNES roms are all over the place, or so I heard once somewhere that I can't remember.

Lartrak · Post by **Lartrak** » Fri Oct 31, 2003 8:55 pm

To be fair, the Mario games on GBA don't use the ROMs - they're remakes. Does the same copyright apply to it? I doubt it, since that would mean that Super Mario Bros DX would become open domain in 55ish years instead of 70, which doesn't seem right.

Post by **Roofus** » Fri Oct 31, 2003 11:06 pm

Those who have been downloading such games can now keep them in their hard drives with a clear conscience.

Maybe it's just me, but I always had a clear conscience about it.

toastman · Post by **toastman** » Fri Oct 31, 2003 11:32 pm

Lartrak wrote:To be fair, the Mario games on GBA don't use the ROMs - they're remakes. Does the same copyright apply to it?

Actually yes it does. Since in the very least it is a derivative work. And if you look at the copyright notice it'll say "Copyright 19xx,20yy".

Phantom · Post by **Phantom** » Sat Nov 01, 2003 5:24 am

toastman wrote:
Lartrak wrote:To be fair, the Mario games on GBA don't use the ROMs - they're remakes. Does the same copyright apply to it?
Actually yes it does. Since in the very least it is a derivative work. And if you look at the copyright notice it'll say "Copyright 19xx,20yy".

Well, yeah. But that's not really relevant to this discussion. You can't plug a NES cart into a GBA, that's the only thing that matters. NES hardware is no longer manufactured, so the DMCA does not apply to NES games (but ofcourse copyright still does). In short, this means that you can dump and crack your NES games for any 'fair use', like playing them on emulators.

Phantom · Post by **Phantom** » Sat Nov 01, 2003 6:00 am

jtaylor wrote:Nintendo has made thier views of emulation clear. Last time I was on thier website, there was a whole page explaining thier official policy. I seem to remember them using the words "illegal" and "pirate" in that statement.

There's a section on their website on this issue: http://www.nintendo.com/corp/legal.jsp.

Can I Download a Nintendo ROM from the Internet if I Already Own the Authentic Game?

There is a good deal of misinformation on the Internet regarding the backup/archival copy exception. It is not a "second copy" rule and is often mistakenly cited for the proposition that if you have one lawful copy of a copyrighted work, you are entitled to have a second copy of the copyrighted work even if that second copy is an infringing copy. The backup/archival copy exception is a very narrow limitation relating to a copy being made by the rightful owner of an authentic game to ensure he or she has one in the event of damage or destruction of the authentic. Therefore, whether you have an authentic game or not, or whether you have possession of a Nintendo ROM for a limited amount of time, i.e. 24 hours, it is illegal to download and play a Nintendo ROM from the Internet.

EDIT: It seems that downloading a ROM file makes that ROM file an infringing copy, which can never be turned into a legal copy, even if you own the original game. So you'd have to dump the ROM file yourself for it to be a legal copy.

Are Game Copying Devices Illegal?

Yes. Game copiers enable users to illegally copy video game software onto floppy disks, writeable compact disks or the hard drive of a personal computer. They enable the user to make, play and distribute illegal copies of video game software which violates Nintendo's copyrights and trademarks. These devices also allow for the uploading and downloading of ROMs to and from the Internet. Based upon the functions of these devices, they are illegal.

This is obviously wrong. The DMCA might have been used to back up their point, but that no longer applies to obsolete systems.

Post by **Specially Cork** » Sat Nov 01, 2003 6:09 am

there is loads of confusion about this in the Uk too.
ELSPA (the people who look after gaming in the UK) stated on their website that backups were illegal. but then some university student tried to get them fined by Trading Standards (the people who make sure organisations dont tell lies and stuff) because it turns out you can have a backup, if it is needed.
So now ELSPA say it is still illegal because today you dont need backups due to better media and the law is quite old, but then other people say that it isnt ELSPA's decision to make on whether a game needs to be backed up, its down to the individual user, so it is legal.

And the argument just goes back and forth forever.

I personally blame the government.
Vague things like "fair use" and "if needed" should not be included in laws. it just causes massive grey areas of confusion.

pavelbure · Post by **pavelbure** » Sat Nov 01, 2003 7:09 am

Wasgo wrote:The article is completely inaccurate and I hope Gamepro gets sued for it.

sued for what ?

anyways,

http://www.gamespot.com/all/news/news_6078006.html

"You can't distribute it today any more than you could yesterday," said one industry veteran who studied the ruling. "Basically, the only people this really effects are emulator authors; they're free to hack obsolete systems as much as they want without fear of being DMCA'ed."

Nyarlathotep · Post by **Nyarlathotep** » Sat Nov 01, 2003 7:50 am

Is the title to this topic going... odd for anyone else?

Phantom · Post by **Phantom** » Sat Nov 01, 2003 7:54 am

scykon wrote:Vague things like "fair use" and "if needed" should not be included in laws. it just causes massive grey areas of confusion.

I don't see any possibility to exactly define 'fair use' of copyrighted material. You'd have to look at that from case to case, which is basically what the law says. So I don't really see a problem there. If Nintendo feels that playing roms of games you legally own is illegal, then they can try to get a court ruling on this matter. But I very much doubt that they'd do this, because they would have no chance of winning.

pavelbure · Post by **pavelbure** » Sat Nov 01, 2003 7:56 am

Dr Wily wrote:Is the title to this topic going... odd for anyone else?

like under a different name ?

Phantom · Post by **Phantom** » Sat Nov 01, 2003 7:59 am

pavelbure wrote:
Dr Wily wrote:Is the title to this topic going... odd for anyone else?
like under a different name ?

I find the title amusing: "Obsolete Video Games Now Legal to Own", but I'm not sure if that's what he's referring to.

Nyarlathotep · Post by **Nyarlathotep** » Sat Nov 01, 2003 8:14 am

It had just... disapeared before I posted. Just the 'new posts' icon, and no title, but the topic remained while replying, and reappeared after I posted.

Just another forum oddity I guess...

zero · Post by **zero** » Sat Nov 01, 2003 8:34 am

It had just... disapeared before I posted. Just the 'new posts' icon, and no title, but the topic remained while replying, and reappeared after I posted.

Just another forum oddity I guess...

Yes the same thing happened to me.