Whats considered "legal" to play on MAME?

[Malenko]

I know we have tons of threads like this, but There just a couple things that I haven't quite figured out.

I have Killer Instinct, dedicated cab, original board; so I can legally play that in MAME. That I'm pretty sure of.
I also have a Killer Instinct 2 cab and a dead Killer Instinct 2 original board, can I legally play that in MAME?

Let's pretend I didn't own KI for the arcade, lets say I have the SNES version (and I do, lol) can I legally play KI on MAME since I bought the SNES cart? or just the SNES version on a SNES emulator?

Lets get a little trickier. Some stupid examples:

I own Ultimate MK3 (original board) version 1.1, can I play version 1.2 in MAME?
I own Ultimate MK3 (original board); but can I play the parent game MK3 in MAME?
I own MK3 PC version, can I play MK3 in MAME?
I own MK1 roms but no board, can I play that in MAME?
I own MK1 board but no roms, can I play that in MAME?

Enough MK examples......

I own Street Fighter Zero 3 Green A board, can I play Street Fighter Alpha 3 in MAME?
I own a suicided MvC1 game, can I play MvC1 in MAME?
I own NBA Jam TE version 3.0, can I play version 2.0 in MAME so I can use the MK guys?
I own a Midway collections game, which uses emulation; can I play the same games from the retail emulation pack in MAME?
Primal Rage 2 never came out, can I legally play that in MAME?
I own King Of Fighters 94 for AES, can I play the MVS version in MAME?
I own King Of Fighters 94 for MVS, can I play the AES version in NeoRageX?


Lets fight nice, Ok?

[HaRuMaN]

42

[Nephasth]

Just follow The Golden Rule: It's only illegal if you get caught. 

[ubermick]

The rule of thumb I'm going with, is taken from Monstarcade:

Keep in mind that the primary mission of MAME is preservation - emulating the software of older arcade machines in order to preserve it for the next generation(s). Eventually, the original hardware that those games work on will expire and cease to function, but through the efforts of the MAMEdev team, the games will survive. Being able to actually *play* those games on your home PC is just a convenient consequence of their efforts.

The Library of Congress granted copyright exemptions in the Digital Millenium Act to obsolete games. The exemption applies to games that require the original hardware as a condition of access, and if the game is “no longer manufactured or reasonably available in the commercial marketplace.” This means that old, unsupported PC, console and arcade games will now be legal to own (so your illegal copy of Mame roms are now legit). The only muddy side is if publishers consider their old games to be “reasonably available” and plan to release classic games as bundles or bonuses, then the copyright protection still stands.

The Digital Millenium Copyright Act, or DMCA was passed on October 12, 1998 to address piracy and copyright concerns specifically pertaining to software and the internet properties. Some of the notable provisions included the outlawed circumvention of anti-piracy laws and distrubition or sale of code-cracking devices. Brewster Kahle from the non-profit company Internet Archive petitioned the US Copyright office, and to the delightful surprise of many, the petition was approved. While game companies will undoubtedly cling on to as many of the old games as they can, many of the older unsupported titles are now free game.

Extremely fuzzy still, given that "if publishers consider their old games to be reasonably available" the copyright stands. At the end of the day, though, ROMs must be assumed to be illegal, otherwise there wouldn't be a prohibition on sites like this for asking/posting about them.

[Malenko]

If you own the board, you can have an archival copy of the ROMs that you dumped yourself.

Everything else is illegal. 

So I cant send my board to Steph ( www.hobbyroms.com ) and have them dump my roms for me?

replace "legal" above with "not breaking the EULA of MAME" then.

[Epyx]

Do what you are comfortable doing and make that your own personal line...then don't talk about it.  We won't know...and we won't judge you for it.  It's what most of us do.  Think of us a group of aviation enthusiasts who love flying and vintage planes...only fuel for flying is hard to come by and illegal.  We focus on the fun of flying and show each other barnstorming routines and flashy paint jobs...we don't talk about where we get the fuel.

[Paul Olson]

These are legal for non-commercial use. http://mamedev.org/roms/

Anything else is questionable due to DMCA, but SHOULD be legal if you own the original PCB.

Edit: I just bought a Targ cab this weekend. I am happy to own a game that the copyright owners released for our use.

[Malenko]

I wasnt asking moral questions  

just about the nuances of the MAME EULA.

[Gray_Area]

Why?

[DNA Dan]

Do what you are comfortable doing and make that your own personal line...then don't talk about it.  We won't know...and we won't judge you for it.  It's what most of us do.  Think of us a group of aviation enthusiasts who love flying and vintage planes...only fuel for flying is hard to come by and illegal.  We focus on the fun of flying and show each other barnstorming routines and flashy paint jobs...we don't talk about where we get the fuel.

Dude.. I just had images of thunderdome go through my head. Nice.

[Malenko]

Why?

knowledge is power?

[BadMouth]

Why?

knowledge is power?

Don't you mean "There is no knowledge that is not power"?  

[RayB]

Robby Roto was donated to the public domain.

[ark_ader]

Robby Roto was donated to the public domain.

I'll just refer to the DMCA ruling.

Dead platform = fair game.

[gatordad]

We had a party and one of my sons friends started a game and the legal warning poped up, he read it and asked is this legal?
I told him to move the joystick left then right and it will go away.