Emulator legality

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iamdjdz

iamdjdz

iamdjdz

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For want of a better place to put this:

Is it legal to downoad emulators and roms of games from systems such as nintendo 64 or snes due to the fact that you cannot buy the systems or the games new any more...?

Just wondered seeing as I want to re-play Zelda Ocarina of time and sold my N64 years ago...
 
No, not at all, and ESPECIALLY Nintendo stuff as they have always owned the Copyright and never sold their rights to their products to anyone.

The only 'technical' exceptions are games from many many years ago for systems like Spectrum, C64, Amstrad that were done by companies like Ocean, Gremlin, Mastertronic where the companies have dissolved or been bought out by so many other houses, the copyrights have been lost or it's virtually impossible to identify the copyright holder. Technically it's illegal, but it would be an almost impossible task to prove who the copyright owner is.
 
iamdjdz said:
For want of a better place to put this:

Is it legal to downoad emulators and roms of games from systems such as nintendo 64 or snes due to the fact that you cannot buy the systems or the games new any more...?

Just wondered seeing as I want to re-play Zelda Ocarina of time and sold my N64 years ago...
Click to expand...

Then you need a Wii and Virtual Console.
 
If you have a working console and a working cartridge of the game you want to play on an emulator with, it is legal. If the cartridge or the console is broken (ie, you can't play it at all), then it is illegal.
 
KNiVES said:
If you have a working console and a working cartridge of the game you want to play on an emulator with, it is legal. If the cartridge or the console is broken (ie, you can't play it at all), then it is illegal.
Click to expand...

who told you that?

most emu's require a BIOS dump to play. if you can dump your own bios from a console you own, you are closer to legit. If not:/

alternatively i own the BLEEM disc, am i legal?
 
Nickg said:
who told you that?

most emu's require a BIOS dump to play. if you can dump your own bios from a console you own, you are closer to legit. If not:/

alternatively i own the BLEEM disc, am i legal?
Click to expand...

It's the law if I recall correctly; stems from the simple rules of 'it's a backup' and 'if you haven't paid for it, go away'.
 
Nickg said:
alternatively i own the BLEEM disc, am i legal?
Click to expand...

Depends which version of Bleem you have. I seem to remember there being a few versions, one of which was deemed illegal as Sony took the makers to court (and won), others being legal. My memory is slightly hazy on it though and I can't be arsed spending the time to track the info down :D
 
KNiVES said:
It's the law if I recall correctly; stems from the simple rules of 'it's a backup' and 'if you haven't paid for it, go away'.
Click to expand...


no, because the bios that you download you havent paid for. and it is that which has generally been the stumbling block. as said, if you can dump your own then your getting there.
 
~J~ said:
The only 'technical' exceptions are games from many many years ago for systems like Spectrum, C64, Amstrad that were done by companies like Ocean, Gremlin, Mastertronic
Click to expand...

ahhh Mastertronic, many times did I goto Boots or Woolworths to buy Mastertronic 1.99 games for the speccy

Unfortunately most of them were quite rubbish :(
 
Davey_Pitch said:
Depends which version of Bleem you have. I seem to remember there being a few versions, one of which was deemed illegal as Sony took the makers to court (and won), others being legal. My memory is slightly hazy on it though and I can't be arsed spending the time to track the info down :D
Click to expand...

cant remember now its tucked away in my loft somewhere, it is the official bleem cd though! but didnt work too well with AMD processors and the patch didnt work properly on my pc (as i remember) obviously that was near 10 years ago!
 
Davey_Pitch said:
Depends which version of Bleem you have. I seem to remember there being a few versions, one of which was deemed illegal as Sony took the makers to court (and won), others being legal. My memory is slightly hazy on it though and I can't be arsed spending the time to track the info down :D
Click to expand...
Awww you used to be great at rattling off hundreds of links and legal spiel to show what was legal :p
 
Sorry Knives but you're misinformed.

Sony and Nintendo have a policy within their games that prevents them from been used on anything other than their own branded hardware. So while people may have a perfectly legal BLEEM emulator, as soon as you run the software you are commiting an offence. Even if you have the original cartridge and a perfectly working console, it's still illegal.

If you still doubt my word, then take it from the horses mouth:
http://www.nintendo.com/corp/faqs/legal.html#what%20is%20an%20emulator
 
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