So... how legal is this....?

Hey guys,
In United States, is this site 100% legal, Some-what legal, or completely illegal? I understand that I'm not getting the roms for free, but aren't there company's that own the rights to these games, and aren't there laws that prevent people from "stealing" from these companies?Just curious....

this site is 100% illegal. You are getting the roms for free as we don't charge for them, though we encourage people to buy the games they like. The rights are held by the respective developers/publishers, as you said, and this site does violate those rights. It is not stealing, however, it is copying, the subtle difference being in the legal definition of stealing, which is 'The unauthorised removal of someone else's (note that in legal terms a company is regarded as a person) property with the intent to deprive them of it'. When you copy something you are not depriving the rightful owner of it, therefore it is not stealing. (that defence has been used in court, and it resulted in the case being dropped). The RIAA/MPAA would do well to take note of that. Copying is not necessarily more legal than stealing (in the case of roms it isn't), but any competent judge would throw the case out if the wrong charges are brought.

See, there is a way to bypass these laws. I do have a fine question though. Because seph is from Denmark but the servers are hosted in the EU and north America, which laws are applicable to this site in a court case? European rules, North American or is there an International law book for this site?

the law of the country hosting the server I would imagine.

Well if I was sued it'd be under Danish law, the pirate bay isn't hosted in Sweden but that's where they got sued.But honestly, it's much easier to send a DMCA notice to have a game removed than sue me...

Replying to #5

and more to the point its cheaper.

WinterreiseYarr, harr, fiddle-dee-dee...

Being a Pirate is alright with me, Do what you want because a pirate is free,
WE are Pirates!(Originally was YOU are a pirate)

I'd like to think of myself as a classics collector, or in Pirate talk a Privateer, not an outright Plunder & Pillage kind of Pirate.

Many just 'try before you buy' because companies like Imagine don't deserve money

One more point why I "support" or use, to be more specific, Emulators is to play old games you normally won't find anymore these days. And to play games that were never actually released in English in the first place that were recently translated, as I said in a similar older thread," You tell me where I can buy a Legit SNES cartridge of Rudra no Hihou or Bahamut Lagoon in English, then I'd stop using my emulators".

Replying to #10

Well, there is a tiny little store in Jersey called "Digital Press" that has a LOT of old snes games for sale, as well as other old gems. I don't know if they have Bahamut Lagoon, though. Plus, they kinda overcharge.

100% illegal makes me so proud of the other pirates. Ashamed with me though. HAPPILY ASHAMED!

Bahamut Lagoon wasn't released in English anyhoo. An Emulator's original intent is so stretched these days.

You can't really buy retro games that support the developers can you? So retro games are fair play in my opinion

yay 100% straight out illegal... XDand we still get the best stuff...*edited*

Yeah, Cj, I agree with that.. Once it goes into a non-production phase, the only people making money off of it are private owners, and so theoretically, retro game emulation doesn't actually hurt the industry. However, at the same time, if that game does go back into production (ported to a new system, usually) that changes things..Not to mention, it's little more than justification for the fact that many of us just want a game for free :P Even if there are other things like, "I really can't get this in any other way, and barring sending a $20 to a developer who didn't care to get the game localized in my region, my hands are tied." Most of what I've ever 'pirated' has been what I couldn't get at the time, because the developer had no interest in getting the game to my region, or had so little interest as to make it seem a 'some day' sort of time table.As for all of this.. It's not 100% legal in the sense that you couldn't face charges for it, but as has been said.. Seth wouldn't be sued, because he'd have to have enough money to make it worth the time, effort, and legal fees.. As for those who download it, you're pretty much safe, too, because the companies don't look at your downloading as right/wrong, but in a fiscal sense.. Once again, spending their time effort and money to nail you isn't in their best interest, because they likely will lose money in the venture. And they certainly don't care enough about you, as the individual, to expend so much simply to stick you with criminal charges.

Yeah, I just scanned over some laws, and I can say.This is 100% illegal. Except for the forums...

Nightwind · #16Yeah, Cj, I agree with that.. Once it goes into a non-production phase, the only people making money off of it are private owners, and so theoretically, retro game emulation doesn't actually hurt the industry. However, at the same time, if that game does go back into production (ported to a new system, usually) that changes things..Not to mention, it's little more than justification for the fact that many of us just want a game for free :P Even if there are other things like, "I really can't get this in any other way, and barring sending a $20 to a developer who didn't care to get the game localized in my region, my hands are tied." Most of what I've ever 'pirated' has been what I couldn't get at the time, because the developer had no interest in getting the game to my region, or had so little interest as to make it seem a 'some day' sort of time table.As for all of this.. It's not 100% legal in the sense that you couldn't face charges for it, but as has been said.. Seth wouldn't be sued, because he'd have to have enough money to make it worth the time, effort, and legal fees.. As for those who download it, you're pretty much safe, too, because the companies don't look at your downloading as right/wrong, but in a fiscal sense.. Once again, spending their time effort and money to nail you isn't in their best interest, because they likely will lose money in the venture. And they certainly don't care enough about you, as the individual, to expend so much simply to stick you with criminal charges.

If I see a retro game to download from Xbox Live i'll get that instead of a PSX iso

Illegal, but really out of the tens-of-thousands of ROM sites why target us?The only loophole to the ROM law is if you have a copy of an infringing piece, thus via loophole It is legal to use a ROM you dumped yourself...
Ok so that 20% BS but :P

a quick question then if everything on this site is illegal and against copyright laws ,why is mysims party different because you say its against copyright laws and is illegal to let people download it ?not argueing the fact just want to ask why the difference :)