Question about ROMs

[Kopikatsu]

I assume that having an emulator and ROM for a game that you didn't pay for would be considered piracy under the law.

But if you OWN the game and get a ROM/iso of the game as well, is it still illegal? Technically, you did buy it. (As in, I currently have Dead Space 2 for the X360. I kind of wanted to make mods for it and whatnot, but that can only be done with a PC version.)

 

[Theo Samaritan]

Roms are illegal. Period.

Not true.

If you own the game, a ROM can be considered a backup copy, which is legal in the USA and Europe as long as only one copy is being run at a time.

 

[Heart of Darkness]

Emulators are usually legal, because they're reverse-engineered to mimic specific hardware. ROMs are illegal, unless you dump them yourself. Just because you bought one license of the game does not give you unlimited access to multiple copies of the license (which includes Dead Space 2. If you want to mod the PC version legally, you need to go buy the PC version).

 

[FalloutJack]

I assume that having an emulator and ROM for a game that you didn't pay for would be considered piracy under the law.

But if you OWN the game and get a ROM/iso of the game as well, is it still illegal? Technically, you did buy it. (As in, I currently have Dead Space 2 for the X360. I kind of wanted to make mods for it and whatnot, but that can only be done with a PC version.)

Yes, you DID buy it. Ergo, the industry should shut the fuck up.

 

[x EvilErmine x]

In was under the impression that ROM's are semi-legal legal ONLY if you owned a legally purchased retail copy of the game. I say semi-legal because strictly speaking you might get a bit of a telling off for having it but if the above stipulations are met then it would get thrown out if it ever went to the courts.

 

[Heart of Darkness]

In was under the impression that ROM's are semi-legal legal ONLY if you owned a legally purchased retail copy of the game. I say semi-legal because strictly speaking you might get a bit of a telling off for having it but if the above stipulations are met then it would get thrown out if it ever went to the courts.

ROMs are only legal if you make them yourself, i.e., create a backup copy for personal use. Downloading ROMs, however, is illegal.

 

[Theo Samaritan]

A ROM is not a backup of a game. ROMs and the original video game are different things.

A ROM is a dump of the content found on a cartridge game - taken from the literal name for that content, which is Read Only Memory. So yes, a ROM and the original game is a different thing entirely, but a ROM that you have created yourself is still a backup.

 

[Kopikatsu]

So...illegal then. Right. Not doin' it. (Probably wouldn't get caught, but I don't feel like taking the chance, no matter how small, to be sued for fifty gajillion dollars.)

 

[FalloutJack]

I assume that having an emulator and ROM for a game that you didn't pay for would be considered piracy under the law.

But if you OWN the game and get a ROM/iso of the game as well, is it still illegal? Technically, you did buy it. (As in, I currently have Dead Space 2 for the X360. I kind of wanted to make mods for it and whatnot, but that can only be done with a PC version.)

Yes, you DID buy it. Ergo, the industry should shut the fuck up.

They make the product, they can sell and market it however they want.

Don't like it? Don't buy it or steal it.

Simple

And I'm sure that's exactly how it will work out.

*Pause*

Oh wait, no it hasn't. Well, fingers crossed, right?

 

[number2301]

I assume that having an emulator and ROM for a game that you didn't pay for would be considered piracy under the law.

But if you OWN the game and get a ROM/iso of the game as well, is it still illegal? Technically, you did buy it. (As in, I currently have Dead Space 2 for the X360. I kind of wanted to make mods for it and whatnot, but that can only be done with a PC version.)

Yes, you DID buy it. Ergo, the industry should shut the fuck up.

They make the product, they can sell and market it however they want.

Don't like it? Don't buy it or steal it.

Simple

Not true, people have rights, including the right to make a back up.

 

[Theo Samaritan]

Would that not be a backup? I am under the impression a ROM is a ripped form of the media, wherein the original product is altered - this altering can include anything, such as allowing it to run on a system is was not designed for, like people using PSP ROMs and NDS ROMs on their computer. It can also include changing the medium the game is stored on. Whereas a backup is an exact copy of the media.

Last time I looked into it here in the UK, a backup refers solely to the data found on the medium, rather than the actual physical medium itself. I believe this was clarified when people started backing up old studio release VHS tapes onto DVD.

Due to this distinction, the actual method of using the backup is inconsequential as long as only one version of the media is being used at any one time.

 

[Actual]

Technically making a ROM is illegal because you'd have to circumvent the Digital Rights Management (DRM) which is a violation of the The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

However, making a backup of a digital product you own is legal, so downloading a ROM of a game you own is legal, until the game industry figures out a way to make it illegal.

In your case you're talking about getting a PC ROM of a game you own on the XBOX, as they are two different pieces of software you cannot legally download the PC version. You could get a back-up of the XBOX version as you already own it.

 

[SinorKirby]

Frankly, the only company I could see as really caring if you get ROMs nowadays would be Nintendo, since they have most of their old games for sale on the Wii Shop Channel. On the other hand, I don't really want to buy my large library of SNES titles again(many of which are NOT on the Wii Shop Channel) if my SNES poops out on me.

So, I would consider ROMs as backups, but only for games/consoles prior to last gen, since you can still find PS2/GC/Xbox/DC games if you look hard enough. Current gen is piracy, flat out. Just buy the game for PC.