Is Wii HomeBrew legal?

[moggett88]

Hey everyone,

I've been looking around Google for a while, but either I'm tired/having a stroke or everyone else is skirting the issue. I loved Monster Hunter Tri, but the servers were taken down last year. I heard that if you install HomeBrew, you can change the online missions to be available offline, through a series of edits that may as well be magic to me...but anyway. What I wanted to know is (1) is it "legal" to install HomeBrew? I don't want to get my poor underused Wii bricked, and (2) is it worth the effort? I'm not particularly good with anything electronic, so if it's difficult or time-consuming to set up, it's probably not for me...

If anyone needs extra discussion value, how about telling what HomeBrews you use? Or the inevitable war over who should own software (consumer or developer)?

 

[McMarbles]

Why would it be illegal? It would just void your warranty.

 

[moggett88]

Why would it be illegal? It would just void your warranty.

I don't know, I would never have assumed it was illegal to burn a copy of a game you own as a backup, but apparently it is. So, worth checking!

 

[Tanis]

I think this is one of those legal grey areas.

Like ROMs.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

Homebrew is not illegal, and softmods will not invalidate your warranty (tho one imagines any softmod ought to be removed before getting a warranty repair (if your console is > 1 year old it's expired anyway)). Playing backup discs is illegal in most countries since a copy is being made of a copyrighted work. Further, if you are in the USA, copying a Wii disc would run one afoul of the DMCA anyway, a law which makes it an offence to bypass copy protection systems which Wii games do have.

Thus while playing "backups" is illegal, homebrew is not. No law is being broken since homebrew content is community created, often open source/GPL and free to distribute and use. Playing emulators is also legal, however you need to ensure that any ROMs are genuinely abandonware. As far as I know, no company in any country has ever prosecuted anybody for playing ROMs with an emulator of an old system that is no longer commercially available.

You would need to find a guide online to see the required steps, or find someone who already knows how to do it. You don't need any modchips or the like for the Wii, just the softmod will do. Be aware though if you're in the USA, I think even that may be illegal. The DMCA I believe allows phones to be jailbroken but not tablets (WTF?) or other devices.

Again I'll reiterate, it's not illegal to mod your console in most countries (though it probably is in the USA), it is not illegal to run homebrew or emulators (though individual ROMs may be). Installing physical mods will almost certainly invalidate a warranty and can lead to a banned console on XBox Live (not PSN though for whatever reason). Playing copied discs is illegal everywhere.

In short, if you're in the USA, probably best to not do it since it's precluded by the DMCA. Anywhere else, you're probably golden. Modchips and modding is completely legal in the EU [http://eutopialaw.com/2014/01/27/nintendo-vs-modchips-score-draw-in-the-cjeu-2/], providing it's not used for doing illegal things like pirating games.

 

[moggett88]

Homebrew is not illegal, and softmods will not invalidate your warranty (tho one imagines any softmod ought to be removed before getting a warranty repair (if your console is > 1 year old it's expired anyway)). Playing backup discs is illegal in most countries since a copy is being made of a copyrighted work. Further, if you are in the USA, copying a Wii disc would run one afoul of the DMCA anyway, a law which makes it an offence to bypass copy protection systems which Wii games do have.

Thus while playing "backups" is illegal, homebrew is not. No law is being broken since homebrew content is community created, often open source/GPL and free to distribute and use. Playing emulators is also legal, however you need to ensure that any ROMs are genuinely abandonware. As far as I know, no company in any country has ever prosecuted anybody for playing ROMs with an emulator of an old system that is no longer commercially available.

You would need to find a guide online to see the required steps, or find someone who already knows how to do it. You don't need any modchips or the like for the Wii, just the softmod will do. Be aware though if you're in the USA, I think even that may be illegal. The DMCA I believe allows phones to be jailbroken but not tablets (WTF?) or other devices.

Again I'll reiterate, it's not illegal to mod your console in most countries (though it probably is in the USA), it is not illegal to run homebrew or emulators (though individual ROMs may be). Installing physical mods will almost certainly invalidate a warranty and can lead to a banned console on XBox Live (not PSN though for whatever reason). Playing copied discs is illegal everywhere.

In short, if you're in the USA, probably best to not do it since it's precluded by the DMCA. Anywhere else, you're probably golden. Modchips and modding is completely legal in the EU [http://eutopialaw.com/2014/01/27/nintendo-vs-modchips-score-draw-in-the-cjeu-2/], providing it's not used for doing illegal things like pirating games.

That was...comprehensive, thank you I'm in the UK, so should be ok then, as I just want to mod a game I own rather than play anything new. I've looked at the process involved and it's a case of I'll probably manage to do it, but I'll have no idea what the things I'm doing are...