how many people here play snes roms

[bangaio]

Yes it is as there are international copyright treaties (cant remember the specific details) also the Copyright laws are generally very similar in most parts of the world. A company especially with a presence else where could persue someone in breach of copyright easily.

[bangaio]

http://www.wipo.int/documents/en/diplconf/distrib/94dc.htm

Particularly article 4

Infact WIPO is a good resourse for all your IP questions you could ever have.

[bangaio]

And as if by magic here are the member states who constitue the WIPO - you will notice no Hong Kong hence the prolific pirate industry over there. (most of which are also members of Paris Union for the Protection of Industrial Property, and the Berne Union for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (which computer programmes are defined as , as per artical 4 above)

Sorry of this is a long post but simply put there is a lot of crap about copyright posted by people with out a clue who take the disclaimer placed on rom sites as gospel. This is as clear as it gets. As for the moral argument, that is something for you to consider.


Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan

B
Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi

C
Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, C?te d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic

D
Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic

E
Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia

F
Fiji, Finland, France
[TOP]
G
Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana

H
Haiti, Holy See, Honduras, Hungary

I
Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy

J
Jamaica, Japan, Jordan

K
Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan

L
Lao People's Democratic Republic, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg

M
Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar

N
Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway

O
Oman
[TOP]
P
Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal

Q
Qatar

R
Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda

S
Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia and Montenegro, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland

T
Tajikistan, Thailand, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan

U
Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania, United States of America, Uruguay, Uzbekistan
[TOP]
V
Venezuela, Viet Nam

Y
Yemen

Z
Zambia, Zimbabwe.

[Robster]

add this to the collection of rom debates thread please mods, save us all.

[Magnakai]

Are you 100% sure you're not allowed to have back-ups of things you legally own? I thought that was legal...

[bangaio]

Backups are not allowed unless specified in the license, most licenses however have provisions realting to backups.

[MartyG]

In the UK there is very little in the way of "Fair Use" of media, the US is far more lenient in this respect.

There is no general right of private copying in UK law, even for shifting songs you own on CD to MP3 - so strictly speaking all those tracks you have on your iPod ripped from CDs are illegal, unless it stated in the license you could do so for said disc. Kind of ironic when the companies that own record labels also sell the MP3 players

This site has a lot of info on the UK law situation in none law speak.

Regards
Marty

[bangaio]

Indeed, if you are say a music teacher, and you photcopy a manuscript for your pupil to practice at home with, that is in breach of copyright. The law in the uk is pretty clear cut. INteresting campaign site there, pretty clearly written - from their point of view of course ;-)

[MartyG]

A campaign that I support - it's daft that I can't legally put the music I own to a DVD-R in MP3 format as a more convenient way of making that music portable for listening to at work.

[baad bwoy]

That copyright law sounds an ass, to prevent a person from making a backup of a media they have already purchased makes no sense whatsoever.
I would think that many people have at some point played, listened to, or viewed something which is in breach of a copyright law, so why get hung up over the whole issue, if you want to play a snes rom go ahead, I don't believe anyone on this forum could judge you for doing this.

[bangaio]

Indeed the moral question is not under discussion. The question was asked or it was pointed out that it is "ok" to backup, try out, or som eof the other usual excuses. Understand it is ilegal, then get on with it and play the game.

I used the sheet music example to get away from the games association. And the ukcdr guys do have a point. The issues of companies protecting what is roghtfully theirs is lost in the moral argument amongst "but it's an old game" or "I have the cart this is simply a backup."

I can't understand the backup argument. I have a SNES, if I want to play the games, nothing beats the real thing so I dig it out, plug it in and play it. There is no way i'd want the rom. I am not passing judgement just saying if you are going to get a rom to play it becuase you want to and have no other means, be honest about it. Just say so.

[MartyG]

For convenience - I have my SNES games on the shelves but the machine is tucked away, so it's much easier to load up Mario Kart on the Xbox emu (which is pretty much perfect).

The oldest machine I have setup connected to the TV atm is my Saturn.

[captain binman]

wassup shotski?!!
Does anybody know any good genesis rom sites or is it alright to talk about these things on the forum

[bangaio]

Give we have just ascertained that (whether in your eyes it is right or wrong) ROMS are ilegal and that the rules of the forum dictate:

"Do not provide links to Iso's, Roms or Emulators. Do not advertise iso's,roms or emulators for sale in the trade forum. failure to follow these simple rules will result in a ban. "

I'd say no.

[MartyG]

I think you should read NTSC-uk Forum Rules

Regards
Marty