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Question about legalities of Roms

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rchadd:
make it clear that you are only selling the cab itself (not including the software or roms).

provide mame on CD with instructions on how to install - you could even help the purchaser  to install it ;)

provide purchaser information on where to purchase legal roms and information on how to acquire other roms (email address of romset burners).

just my suggestion

just noticed that this is your first post...just hope you are not a money bagger that see's mame cab building as a way to make a quick buck off the hard work of many others...

sdrob04:
Anyone interested in this aspect of the hobby should be familiar with the following (issued by the Register of Copyrights in 2003):  

http://www.copyright.gov/1201/

I'm no lawyer, but item (3) sure seems to cover computer works in games that aren't manufactured anymore.  Having a copy of this document on hand might come in handy one day (!)

brained:
Good one sdrob, we should carry that in our pockets :P

RayB:
Sorry, but item #3 doesn't give anyone permission to distribute roms. The only way it applies to us is that it basically says is that using or writing an EMULATOR is not a violation of the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act).

Basically, that page is related to exceptions to the DMCA. It's not a blanket exemption to ALL copyright law. Under the DMCA it is illegal to reverse engineer, modify, or even in some ways discuss specifics of copyrighted software.

Section 3 on that page lists exemptions where it's "ok" to reverse engineer/modify/hack/ etc software. For example, the software in question relies on a hardware dongle to run, but the dongle no longer works, and the company that makes/supports the software/hardware is out of business. Under the DMCA it would be illegal for a programmer to go in and hack the software so that he can still use it without the dongle. But Section 3 makes it "ok" to do it under certain circumstances.

I find this only underlines how f'd up the DMCA is, as it acknowledges a need for people to change, examine or reprogram software they own. But it's the big corporations that don't like this, and it's they who pushed through the DMCA in the first place.

So anyways, as it applies to us, Section 3 of the DMCA is good in that it says that writing and using emulators for obsolete software/hardware is not illegal under the DMCA. Copying and using ROM data you don't own though, is still illegal even if the ROM is "obsolete".

~Ray


markb:
At the local supermarket they sell an arcade package of 118 classic games for

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