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What constitutes a valid rom license?
mlcampbe:
I'm building a MAME cabinet and would like to be legal for the rom's that I play. Mainly the classics such as ms. pacman, outrun, centipede, etc...
I know that this has been discussed previously but cannot find it in the archives.
If I go down to wal-mart and buy the xbox, snes, playstation cartridge of the game does that make my MAME rom legal? Why or why not?
What about if I purchase that 10-in-1 joystick game that includes most of the classic games. Does that work?
If neither of the above work then what are the legal ways to acquire the rom? Do I have to purchase one of the original arcade games?
Magnet_Eye:
You need to own the original PCB (you can get them on ebay)...not the entire machine. Also, you can buy the rights to legal roms from sources like www.starroms.com
You might consider buying the various PC compilations that contain the games. Atari Classics, and so on..
8)
DaveMMR:
It's really a big, gray area.
Basically, it's been discussed that owning the original PCB (working or non-working) and then the ROM image would make it legal.
Also Starroms.com has a bunch of Atari ROMS that you can purchase legally, though the licence doesn't allow you to place the cabinet somewhere to make a profit (like a bar). Capcom also bundled ROMs with a joystick, and I'm sure the same limitation applies.
Finally, if you own a game in one format, can you legally own the ROM? I bought a copy of Midway's Arcade Treasures, so can I have a copy of the Robotron ROM, Defender ROM, et al. legally? There are arguements that say I can and others that say I can't. The copyright owners may appreciate it but who knows what the lawyers would say. And what about Strider (or Ninja Gaiden) for the NES and then the Strider (or Ninja Gaiden) ROM? Same names, but radically different games.
The whole case on what's legal and what's not is not something that's outright clear cut (too many scenarios, such as what you brought up).
If you're building something for profit and public use, then definately stay aware from MAME (and consult a lawyer over legal options) since it wasn't created for profit's sake.
The FAQ at mame.net has more information about legality.
Anyway, sorry for the verbal tapdancing. That's just my view of the whole thing - other's may disagree and/or add more.
Chris:
--- Quote from: DaveMMR on May 15, 2004, 08:26:35 pm ---It's really a big, gray area.
--- End quote ---
It's about as gray as music swapping, i.e. not at all. People (myself included) just want it to be a gray area.
--- Quote ---Basically, it's been discussed that owning the original PCB (working or non-working) and then the ROM image would make it legal.
--- End quote ---
Owning an arcade board does not give you the rights to the ROM because the software is not licensed to be used in that fashion. With really old ROMs, you may be able to get away with this because ancient ROMs may not have had license agreements as no one anticipated copying ROMs to a PC back in 1979.
If this was legal, arcade operators would buy one copy of a game and burn it to whatever compatible hardware they could find. The fact that this activity was widespread didn't make it legal. If you own the board it is legal to run that board, presuming that the ROMs on the board are in fact legal and not bootlegs.
--- Quote ---Finally, if you own a game in one format, can you legally own the ROM? I bought a copy of Midway's Arcade Treasures, so can I have a copy of the Robotron ROM, Defender ROM, et al. legally? There are arguements that say I can and others that say I can't. The copyright owners may appreciate it but who knows what the lawyers would say. And what about Strider (or Ninja Gaiden) for the NES and then the Strider (or Ninja Gaiden) ROM? Same names, but radically different games.
--- End quote ---
Buying a game with the same title in a different format in no way gives you legal rights to anything with that name.
If the PC version contains a ROM file and you copy that ROM file to your game cabinet, that should be legal, as long as you do not use the original; at that point, you're just using MAME to run the ROM instead of whatever emulator they packaged with it. But if you buy a game that is a recreation of an arcade game but doesn't use the actual ROM files, you have absolutely no legal basis to use the ROMs. Otherwise, you could go to a flea market and buy an old Atari 2600 Pac-Man cartridge and say you had rights to the full-fledged Pac-Man arcade software.
--Chris
SirPoonga:
--- Quote from: Chris on May 16, 2004, 10:20:43 pm ---Owning an arcade board does not give you the rights to the ROM because the software is not licensed to be used in that fashion. With really old ROMs, you may be able to get away with this because ancient ROMs may not have had license agreements as no one anticipated copying ROMs to a PC back in 1979.
If this was legal, arcade operators would buy one copy of a game and burn it to whatever compatible hardware they could find. The fact that this activity was widespread didn't make it legal. If you own the board it is legal to run that board, presuming that the ROMs on the board are in fact legal and not bootlegs.
--- End quote ---
I am going to have to disagree. You are talking about arcade operators buying one copy and burning it to other hardware for use as a game for selling? Yeah, that would not be right. But you are entitled to a backup and use the backup over the original, that's why it is a backup.
It's like this, I have a CD that I bought with songs. I rip to mp3 and put them on a diamond rio. That's still legal even thought hte song is on a differnt hardware than the the CD could be used in. Sorry, that's the closest thing I could come up with that is close to what is being done with the arcade PCBs. Or does CD copyrights allow that, even old CDs before mp3s existed, I suppose cassettes existed and would be simular if they worded it as other media.