An odd situation relating to piracy

Baron Mordo · Post by **Baron Mordo** » 2003-04-29 01:57pm

Currently, I own a copy of The Lost Vikings for the PC. It's not in my hands, but the box, disk and manual are somewhere in storage. I also have a SNES emulator, and a rom of the game on my computer. Am I in violation of the law? If so, how?

Rye · Post by **Rye** » 2003-04-29 02:01pm

I think if you don't have the original SNES game on cartridge, it counts as copyright violation...probably...but that's a guess.

Wicked Pilot · Post by **Wicked Pilot** » 2003-04-29 02:04pm

Baron Mordo wrote:Currently, I own a copy of The Lost Vikings for the PC. It's not in my hands, but the box, disk and manual are somewhere in storage. I also have a SNES emulator, and a rom of the game on my computer. Am I in violation of the law? If so, how?

If you paid for the game, then you are legally able to make as many copies in as many formats as you want as long as you don't sell or distribute them.

Queeb Salaron · Post by **Queeb Salaron** » 2003-04-29 02:06pm

Wicked Pilot wrote:
Baron Mordo wrote:Currently, I own a copy of The Lost Vikings for the PC. It's not in my hands, but the box, disk and manual are somewhere in storage. I also have a SNES emulator, and a rom of the game on my computer. Am I in violation of the law? If so, how?
If you paid for the game, then you are legally able to make as many copies in as many formats as you want as long as you don't sell or distribute them.

::Nods:: Not to be confused with MUSIC piracy, which says that when you own a CD, you can burn ONE COPY of that CD for yourself, and no more.

Or at least that's how it was explained to me.

Morat · Post by **Morat** » 2003-04-29 02:11pm

You own a copy for the PC, but the one on the computer is for the SNES. Nintendo would no-doubt be unhappy about that.

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2003-04-29 02:12pm

It seems like they aren't the same game, so I think it would count as piracy.

Or think of it like this. If I had Quake for my Jaguar(I don't really), could I then have a copy of Quake for PC, legally without paying for it?

GrandMasterTerwynn · Post by **GrandMasterTerwynn** » 2003-04-29 02:40pm

Baron Mordo wrote:Currently, I own a copy of The Lost Vikings for the PC. It's not in my hands, but the box, disk and manual are somewhere in storage. I also have a SNES emulator, and a rom of the game on my computer. Am I in violation of the law? If so, how?

They may have the same title, but the SNES game was targeted at a different platform, which involves another complete software development lifecycle dedicated to that particular version of the game. Just because you own the PC version of the game does not make it legal for you to have that SNES ROM. It's still an illegal, pirated copy.

Darth Yoshi · Post by **Darth Yoshi** » 2003-04-30 01:08am

Actually, Nintedo's policy is NO copies, regardless. It doesn't matter if you have the cartridge, you're not supposed to make copies.

Alferd Packer · Post by **Alferd Packer** » 2003-04-30 01:12am

SNES is a dead platform and has been so for more than 5 years.

SNES Emulators are perfectly legal. As for the game itself....well, it's hard to say.

Hethrir · Post by **Hethrir** » 2003-04-30 03:32am

Baron Mordo wrote:...Am I in violation of the law? If so, how?

It depends on what country you are in, and the EULA. Most people would consider it ok, but the game makers would not. They would have a tough time trying to get you i imagine. If the game no longer sells, how can they really get you for it?

If you are not a king pin pirate that they are after and just need an excuse to slam ya, don't worry. It is not worth their time to go after a person that bought a game, then got the emulator and ROM, of a game that doesn't make lots of profit any more.

GrandMasterTerwynn · Post by **GrandMasterTerwynn** » 2003-04-30 03:38am

Alferd Packer wrote:SNES is a dead platform and has been so for more than 5 years.

SNES Emulators are perfectly legal. As for the game itself....well, it's hard to say.

Yes, the emulators are legal. So are HP calculator emulators. However, you still have to own the original game for the ROM image to be legal. The only way that a randomly downloaded ROM would be legal is if Nintendo gives permission for it's ROM images to be copied and distributed freely. (And I mention the HP calculator example because recently, they started putting out ROM images for their HP48/HP48GX/HP49 graphing calculators. Thus, finding the ROMs out on the web is completely legal, whereas it isn't in the case of Nintendo, which does not seem to have done anything similar.)

Crazy_Vasey · Post by **Crazy_Vasey** » 2003-04-30 09:16am

Darth Yoshi wrote:Actually, Nintedo's policy is NO copies, regardless. It doesn't matter if you have the cartridge, you're not supposed to make copies.

Their policy is irrelevant. They cannot take away your right to fair use which includes the right to make a backup copy.

Slartibartfast · Post by **Slartibartfast** » 2003-04-30 11:31am

Darth Yoshi wrote:Actually, Nintedo's policy is NO copies, regardless. It doesn't matter if you have the cartridge, you're not supposed to make copies.

Nintendo's policy is a moot point. They can "if you make copies, we'll stop liking you" all they want. This is about the law... if the law is that fucked up, then whatever, but a company's internal policies make no difference.

Vertigo1 · Post by **Vertigo1** » 2003-04-30 07:32pm

Crazy_Vasey wrote:
Darth Yoshi wrote:Actually, Nintedo's policy is NO copies, regardless. It doesn't matter if you have the cartridge, you're not supposed to make copies.
Their policy is irrelevant. They cannot take away your right to fair use which includes the right to make a backup copy.

Unfortunately, thats not true anymore thanks to teh DMCA. You can't copy shit anymore. The only reason CD and DVD burners are legal are for crap like "home movies" or the like.

Crazy_Vasey · Post by **Crazy_Vasey** » 2003-05-01 01:52pm

Vertigo1 wrote:
Crazy_Vasey wrote:
Darth Yoshi wrote:Actually, Nintedo's policy is NO copies, regardless. It doesn't matter if you have the cartridge, you're not supposed to make copies.
Their policy is irrelevant. They cannot take away your right to fair use which includes the right to make a backup copy.
Unfortunately, thats not true anymore thanks to teh DMCA. You can't copy shit anymore. The only reason CD and DVD burners are legal are for crap like "home movies" or the like.

Thankfully, as an English citizen the DMCA has little to no effect on me. They haven't managed to get the UK DMCAalike passed, yet.

Slartibartfast · Post by **Slartibartfast** » 2003-05-01 07:58pm

Oh yeah, the famous DMCA retarded US law. It doesn't affect me. Or Russians. Actually in Russia, I heard that saying that you "can't make a backup copy" is a crime in itself, since fair use is supposedly guaranteed.

Alyeska · Post by **Alyeska** » 2003-05-01 08:30pm

WTF? The DMCA made it illegal to make personal copies of your own music and movies now? That is fucked up.

Post by **AdmiralKanos** » 2003-05-01 08:33pm

Alyeska wrote:WTF? The DMCA made it illegal to make personal copies of your own music and movies now? That is fucked up.

Not exactly. The DMCA took an end-run around the fair use laws. They couldn't simply make it illegal to exercise your fair-use rights, but they made the TECHNIQUES AND TECHNOLOGY of unlicensed copying illegal to use, own, or distribute.

In other words, it's legal to copy your own music and movies, but it is now illegal to possess or distribute the necessary software and hardware to do it, if any copy protection is employed (which is true for all DVD's and an increasing number of audio CD's).

And Americans wonder why people in the rest of the world think their laws are fucked up.

Alyeska · Post by **Alyeska** » 2003-05-01 08:36pm

If that ever makes it to a court it should be struck down. Its intent is in prevent fair use to consumers. Hell, it might get struck down on constitutional grounds. I would really like to see anyone even come close to enforcing certain aspects of the DMCA.

Post by **AdmiralKanos** » 2003-05-01 08:43pm

Alyeska wrote:If that ever makes it to a court it should be struck down. Its intent is in prevent fair use to consumers. Hell, it might get struck down on constitutional grounds. I would really like to see anyone even come close to enforcing certain aspects of the DMCA.

That's why they've been very careful in enforcing it. It is blatantly unconstitutional and they know that if they prosecuted someone to its fullest extent, the law would be struck down.

That's why the RIAA backed down on its threat to prosecute a university professor for discussing weaknesses in widely used encryption techniques; the spectre of a university professor being put in prison for discussing forbidden subjects would have sent the Supreme Court into uproar, so they decided to back off so that the law would not have to face a challenge. The law is presently more useful for bullying smaller parties that don't have the resources to defend themselves, such as the teenaged linux geek who wrote the original DeCSS code.

Alyeska · Post by **Alyeska** » 2003-05-01 08:47pm

In other words the RIAA and MPAA knows they are in serious shit even with their pretty little law. They use it as a tool and they can't risk loosing it. I forsee a major conflict eventualy brewing when someone challenges the law and takes it all the way to the Supreme Court.

Crayz9000 · Post by **Crayz9000** » 2003-05-01 08:57pm

Alyeska wrote:In other words the RIAA and MPAA knows they are in serious shit even with their pretty little law. They use it as a tool and they can't risk loosing it. I forsee a major conflict eventualy brewing when someone challenges the law and takes it all the way to the Supreme Court.

I think 2600 Magazine is still fighting it...

generator_g1 · Post by **generator_g1** » 2003-05-02 01:09am

*** Shrugs ***

Here, pretty much everything (video games, movies, music) is pirated. Although the authorities are getting aggressive in the fight against piracy, it's still an uphill battle especially if the people selling these pirated CD's can just easily pack up and run whenever the raiding team comes a calling. Their MO is to sell pirated stuff carried on small duffel bags so it's easy to run and hide.

BTW a curious thing is that these road side vendors usually have a return policy regarding CD's. If the CD that you buy proves defective, you can just go back to the person that sold it to you and ask to have it replaced and they usually replace it without any questions.

Crazy_Vasey · Post by **Crazy_Vasey** » 2003-05-02 01:01pm

What's really amusing about the RIAA and the DMCA is that while they're desperately trying to enforce their old business model via increasingly draconian laws via their bought and paid for senators Apple have actually used the technology to sell individual downloadable songs for 99c and despite the software only available to Mac users they made something like a hundred grand in the first day. Not bad going methinks.

GonK · Post by **GonK** » 2003-05-02 02:52pm

Thinking about piracy here's a situation I'm not too sure about the legality of.

I have Jedi Knight 2 installed on my computer. I also have it cracked so that it dosn't need the CD to run. Now given that I have a legal copy of the game sitting on my desk am I doing anything wrong?

I'm curious as at the moment I'm having to crack any game that I want to play as my CD drive is on it's last legs and is about to go to the great computer store on the sky (or straight down the rubbish shoot).

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An odd situation relating to piracy

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