Re: are ROMs sites legal?

In a simple explanation

Ok so being someone who has researched this extensively I feel I need to add my 2 cents, but admittedly I am from an expert. Emulation is not illegal. Owning "ROMs" is not illegal, however how you obtain them is. What is illegal is the copying and distribution of copyrighted material. Be it digital format or otherwise. That being said there is a thing called "abandoned properties." What this means is in most likelihood the legality of downloading and distributing ROMs from a video game system that is no longer supported, distributed or maintained by the manufacturer, developer or copyright holder becomes questionable. If you were in fact set upon by a horde of nintendo ninjas your legal defense could be that the company abandoned and no longer supports games for the NES, SNES, N64, GameCube etc. Now some will argue that those games are available electronically and are supported on current hardware, which is true but only through emulation. In essence if you are downloading ROMs that can only run either through homebrew emulation or original hardware then it falls under the category of abandoned properties. In other words most copyright laws do not apply. But of course that doesn't mean someone at SEGA or Nintendo won't get a bug up their ass and shut Vimms down. The courts tend to side with property owners. However, what does a company like Sony have to gain from prosecuting's its fan base. After all they have already made their money on the previous generation of systems and in all likelihood are not going to waste resources on someone downloading Final Fantasy 7. And your ISP could care less. But if they are subpoenaed, well that's a different story. That is why I always use a VPN when accessing ROM sites. Food for thought.