If you proceed that means you agree to the following
statement below!
Section 117 of the U.S.C. Title 17 (Copyright law),
states:
"Notwithstanding the provisions of section 106, it is not an infringement for the
owner of a copy of a computer program to make or authorize the making of another copy or
adaptation of that computer program provided:
1.that such a new copy or adaptation is created as an essential step in the utilization of
the computer program in conjunction with a machine and that it is used in no other manner,
or
2.that such new copy or adaptation is for archival purposes only and that all archival
copies are destroyed in the event that continued possession of the computer program should
cease to be rightful. Any exact copies prepared in accordance with the provisions of this
section may be leased, sold, or otherwise transferred, along with the copy from which such
copies were prepared, only as part of the lease, sale, or other transfer of all rights in
the program. Adaptations so prepared may be transferred only with the authorization of the
copyright owner."
Console games/arcade games are classified as computer programs.
So, according to the copyright law, you CAN own a copy of a software program you own
(contrary to what Nintendo and the IDSA wants you to believe). But in the case of ROMS,
you can't copy them if you don't have access to a backup device so websites have to
distribute them (so ignore in part sub-section 2.)
About copies of software that you do not own, the
Copyright Information act of 1995 states:
"Any software no longer being sold with a copyright older than 2 years becomes public
domain, the reason being that such software becomes obsolete because of advancements on
the medium and technology."
So, old games are now public domain. (Super Nintendo games are still a gray area in this
fashion which is why DIR requires you to agree to only download game ROMs for the games
you own. When Super Nintendo games no longer grace the shelves in stores they will
completely be public domain.)
Still, even if you/we might be on the legal side, we are in the emulation scene because of
the classic games. To preserve these games. They just can't cease to exist. But to protect
the industry, it is a self-applied rule among emulator programmers and webmasters to not
emulate/distribute newer games.
So in plain English it means you cannot have a rom for
more than a 24 hours unless you have the original cartridge on the systwm the rom belongs
to.