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I try to emulate games legaly, so I was interested to find out about certain fair-use law.

To be precise, I found out you can legaly give away up to 10 copies of a game (or anything else, I guess) every 180 days as long as you own the game and are giving away copies you dumped yourself.

So, is there anyone out there who

1. Owns the original cartridge yourself;
2. Have dumped it yourself; and
3. Is willing to send me the dumped rom(s) as part of your 10 copies.

I am interested in any and all roms(not just SMS), but here's some I'm most interested in:

Phantasy Star, R-Type, Double Dragon, Psycho Fox, Space Harrier, Wonder Boy/Monster Land, Ys, Golvellius
Any arcade rom

If anyone wants to help me out with this, let me know and I'll tell you where to send the roms. Tell me which you will give me first, as I have a lot of games, and I don't want duplicates.

By the way, soon I will be making a dumper myself, and I'll be able to give roms away. Anyone who sends me a rom will get first crack at my roms. :)

I see from your IP address that you're in the US. (I'm an admin, everyone else can't see it.)

The copyright law in the US does not allow what you describe. The Scribe did by far the most advanced research into it and basically US law gives you:

- Fair use: you can use your original cartridges as you see fit. (This is something that is in the process of being removed via DRM.)
- Media transfer: you may make one copy of your original software in order to make it usable on a more modern device.
- No copying: you may not give a copy of your software to someone else, even if it's to help them with the previous point.

In other words: the only legal rom in the US is one you dumped from your own cartridge. No 24 hour rule, no 10 copies per 180 days.

Similar situations exist in most countries due to an international copyright convention. The solution? Just don't care. If you really care, don't ever play roms, buy GBA Famicom Mini cartridges. Don't buy those NES-in-a-joystick games, they are illegal too.

Rats. I thought for sure I found a loophole in the law. I wish I knew where I read this, I could have posted a link

Hey, I just had an idea. Does anyone know if international copyright law applies to international waters? if not, you could take a boat out there, download everything you want, then come back with everything! another question: would there be import restrictions on it?

guest wrote

Hey, I just had an idea. Does anyone know if international copyright law applies to international waters? if not, you could take a boat out there, download everything you want, then come back with everything! another question: would there be import restrictions on it?

I don't know what the legal status would be while you're in international waters, but once you come back to the US it's still illegal.

Incidentally, where did you even hear about the 10 copies/180 days thing? That's just ridiculous. IIRC the origins of the "24 hour rule" was a BBS that offered commericial software to download and tried to claim it was operating a 'digital library' where someone could 'check out' (download) a copy of legitimately purchased software and 'return it' (delete it) when it was done so it could be checked out by someone else later. That didn't hold up in court, however.

Here, the best way for don't have any legal problem and play as you want :)

Sorry, cam broken, little red :p

The most part of sms games are realy not expensive. And in general, you appreciate realy more a game when you have pay it.

sw33t collection!

Author	Message
ilovesms Guest	Legal rom disribution Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 5:09 pm
ilovesms Guest	I try to emulate games legaly, so I was interested to find out about certain fair-use law. To be precise, I found out you can legaly give away up to 10 copies of a game (or anything else, I guess) every 180 days as long as you own the game and are giving away copies you dumped yourself. So, is there anyone out there who 1. Owns the original cartridge yourself; 2. Have dumped it yourself; and 3. Is willing to send me the dumped rom(s) as part of your 10 copies. I am interested in any and all roms(not just SMS), but here's some I'm most interested in: Phantasy Star, R-Type, Double Dragon, Psycho Fox, Space Harrier, Wonder Boy/Monster Land, Ys, Golvellius Any arcade rom If anyone wants to help me out with this, let me know and I'll tell you where to send the roms. Tell me which you will give me first, as I have a lot of games, and I don't want duplicates. By the way, soon I will be making a dumper myself, and I'll be able to give roms away. Anyone who sends me a rom will get first crack at my roms. :)

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14745 Location: London	Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 7:48 pm
	I see from your IP address that you're in the US. (I'm an admin, everyone else can't see it.) The copyright law in the US does not allow what you describe. The Scribe did by far the most advanced research into it and basically US law gives you: - Fair use: you can use your original cartridges as you see fit. (This is something that is in the process of being removed via DRM.) - Media transfer: you may make one copy of your original software in order to make it usable on a more modern device. - No copying: you may not give a copy of your software to someone else, even if it's to help them with the previous point. In other words: the only legal rom in the US is one you dumped from your own cartridge. No 24 hour rule, no 10 copies per 180 days. Similar situations exist in most countries due to an international copyright convention. The solution? Just don't care. If you really care, don't ever play roms, buy GBA Famicom Mini cartridges. Don't buy those NES-in-a-joystick games, they are illegal too.

guest Guest	Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 8:33 pm
guest Guest	Rats. I thought for sure I found a loophole in the law. I wish I knew where I read this, I could have posted a link

guest Guest	Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 8:36 pm
guest Guest	Hey, I just had an idea. Does anyone know if international copyright law applies to international waters? if not, you could take a boat out there, download everything you want, then come back with everything! another question: would there be import restrictions on it?

Heliophobe Site Admin Joined: 25 Oct 1999 Posts: 2029 Location: Monterey, California	Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 8:56 pm
	guest wrote Hey, I just had an idea. Does anyone know if international copyright law applies to international waters? if not, you could take a boat out there, download everything you want, then come back with everything! another question: would there be import restrictions on it? I don't know what the legal status would be while you're in international waters, but once you come back to the US it's still illegal. Incidentally, where did you even hear about the 10 copies/180 days thing? That's just ridiculous. IIRC the origins of the "24 hour rule" was a BBS that offered commericial software to download and tried to claim it was operating a 'digital library' where someone could 'check out' (download) a copy of legitimately purchased software and 'return it' (delete it) when it was done so it could be checked out by someone else later. That didn't hold up in court, however.

Manest Joined: 20 Dec 2004 Posts: 99 Location: Marseille, France (Santiago, Chile)	Posted: Thu May 05, 2005 7:40 pm
	Here, the best way for don't have any legal problem and play as you want :) Sorry, cam broken, little red :p The most part of sms games are realy not expensive. And in general, you appreciate realy more a game when you have pay it.

guest Guest	Posted: Wed May 11, 2005 7:31 pm
guest Guest	sw33t collection!

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