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[KurtFF8]

At least allow them until October 27, 2009

Copyright Change Announced (http://www.copyright.gov/1201/)

This includes exemptions for:

2. Computer programs and video games distributed in formats that have become obsolete and that require the original media or hardware as a condition of access, when circumvention is accomplished for the purpose of preservation or archival reproduction of published digital works by a library or archive. A format shall be considered obsolete if the machine or system necessary to render perceptible a work stored in that format is no longer manufactured or is no longer reasonably available in the commercial marketplace.

Which would obviously include N64 Roms for example

The Librarian of Congress, on the recommendation of the Register of Copyrights, has announced the classes of works subject to the exemption from the prohibition against circumvention of technological measures that control access to copyrighted works. Persons making noninfringing uses of the following six classes of works will not be subject to the prohibition against circumventing access controls (17 U.S.C. § 1201(a)(1)) during the next three years.

[Clements]

Er, this has nothing to do with DISTRIBUTION of the circumvented copyrighted works. This law simply states that you are allowed to back-up software or video games for own use or archival purposes, and that's all.

[Doomulation]

It would not change one fact either, however. And that would be companies such as Nintendo who agressively hunt down sites offering roms be it illegal or not. Emutalk could still get into trouble even if it was legal. And it's not legal in every country.

[Beaner(lui)]

hey, Won't he get in trouble Here?

[KurtFF8]

when circumvention is accomplished for the purpose of preservation or archival reproduction of published digital works by a library or archive

If there is a website devoted to archiving Rom files (edit: I originally wrote "file" instead of "files") for example, this is now okay.

So linking to such a site shouldn't be against the rules

[Beaner(lui)]

Oh... Ok...
Heh Heh...

[Clements]

If there is a website devoted to archiving Rom file for example, this is now okay.

So linking to such a site shouldn't be against the rules

You are interpreting that completely wrong. Read it more carefully. ROM sites archive and distribute ROMs. Archival for your own personal use is legal (as stated in the link), but distribution is not. The link does not mention distribution in the context of the distribution of the actual copied software. The ROM site is breaking the law.

[t0rek]

Thread of the month! :)

[Beaner(lui)]

Oh Crap, It's Wilson!...
Oh, uh... Yeah It's Illegal...

[Cyberman]

It is amazing people can read the same thing and yet come up with different interpretations. :D

Do you really want to be a target is my question? Do you wish to tempt people who following the Japanese idea of copyrights. That is they own everything including you when you buy there copyrighted works. Japanese copyright law is very different than the rest of the world. There perspective is different as well. Assuming that something is legal one place is going to somehow protect you, is nieve indeed.

The world is going to get a lot nastier in the next few years I have a feeling in regard to this stuff. As ussual people want more then they are entitled to .. on both sides of the coin.

Cyb

[Toasty]

Private copying != public distribution. That said, unauthorized copyrighted ROM distribution is just as illegal as ever in the U.S. and most other countries as well.

[KurtFF8]

Back to this announcement and the question of "archive"

Archives provide access to files/documents, for example marxist.org is a site that archives old texts that sometimes (for example the Karlm Marx selected writings book by Oxford) can be copyrighted, but that site as an archive makes it fair use and is a true archive, the point of archives is for people to access their content, and I believe that that same logic would apply to a ROM archive site, it is still archiving the files, but why would the website exist if people couldn't access the archived material?

[Doomulation]

Why do rom sites even exist? They're illegal to the core, yet they do exist.
Archive or not, it is illegal to distribute copyrighted material without the permission of the owner. Therefore, no links to any sort of site that carries roms.

[Clements]

Archive in this context means 'a repository or collection especially of information'. It does not necessarily imply 'free' information.

[PsyMan]

Legal issues is not the only problem. Many companies would not like the distribution of their games (as ROMs or ISOs) even if it was legal to distribute them.
"Archiving" ROMs can and WILL lead to several problems and the owner of the website that hosts or links to these files will be in trouble.
Linking to sites that have ROMs can also act as a chain and will lead to people asking us for ROMs and people uploading ROMs here (and this will also lead to problems).

Our policy regarding ROMs (as well as ISOs, BIOS images, etc.) is NOT going to change anytime soon (whatever some people think or say). End of story. Thread closed. Please do not keep talking about this matter here on EmuTalk.