Downloading ROMs of unlicensed/pirate NES games: Legal or Illegal?

[WarMasterXX]

Is it technically legal to download said ROMs off the Internet? Because I'd like to download two Mortal Kombat pirate games for NES, because there's hacks on romhacking.net that make them MUCH better and more accurate ports. Plus I own at least one Mortal Kombat game for all my systems except the NES, and it'd make me feel really good to fix that.

If it's not, then that's fine, but it'd be a neat addition to my legit ROM collection if it is...

I did ask a friend on GameFAQs this same question (He's helped me out a lot over what's legal to download and what isn't), and even though he thinks this is illegal, he's not completely sure. That's why I'd like input from you guys concerning this...

 

[Ferris1000]

Downloading Roms is not illegal, Distribute Roms by Uploading them is illegal.

when it comes to distributing unlicensed Roms it depends.

Homebrew Games are legal if they are nor using intellectual property of another person / Company and/or are modified Roms (Romhacks)

 

[FAST6191]

Unlicensed could merely mean Tengen and such, which were otherwise fine commercial works and as regarded under copyright as any other game (possibly more so if they were properly copyrighted in the US and others might have skipped it/renewal*). Depending upon the timeframe it could extend to homebrew (homebrew as a term is rather newer, back then "public domain"/PD would probably have been the term which has other connotations).

*I can't remember when the timelines kicked in there but many of the same reasons you have certain horror films of similar vintage in certain collections (see Driller Killer) all the time might well be in play here.

Those that made and distributed the Mortal Kombat games/hacked/bootlegs would presumably be troubled on copyright (artwork if nothing else), probably trademark (could be confused as a legit work from the company owing to it being called that) and probably something else as well (software patents maybe being out of play at this point).
Now that is however distribution. Whether owning such a thing would count (or if it is a hack of a commercial game then you still have the copyright on the underlying original code, and possibly works derived from it) is a different matter.

To that end strictly under the letter of the law it is questionable at best, outright verboten would probably be where the cautious lawyer lands. Should the police get out, drop the hammer and kick down the door before searching your computer then they would not care, and similarly who would sue you for damages for having it is also in question (the owners of the base game** if it is a hack rather than a straight up homebrew engine some poor Chinese coder had to cobble together being the best bet, which if it is not Nintendo or Capcom is exceedingly unlikely to care in current space year and all future space years to follow) as the one doing the suing has to be the one that owns the rights/is damaged by the act.

**you might still be able to buy it on some virtual console type setup somewhere.

 

[godreborn]

if you don't want to get a copyright email from your isp, then use usenet or a vpn.

 

[WarMasterXX]

Unlicensed could merely mean Tengen and such, which were otherwise fine commercial works and as regarded under copyright as any other game (possibly more so if they were properly copyrighted in the US and others might have skipped it/renewal*). Depending upon the timeframe it could extend to homebrew (homebrew as a term is rather newer, back then "public domain"/PD would probably have been the term which has other connotations).

*I can't remember when the timelines kicked in there but many of the same reasons you have certain horror films of similar vintage in certain collections (see Driller Killer) all the time might well be in play here.

Those that made and distributed the Mortal Kombat games/hacked/bootlegs would presumably be troubled on copyright (artwork if nothing else), probably trademark (could be confused as a legit work from the company owing to it being called that) and probably something else as well (software patents maybe being out of play at this point).
Now that is however distribution. Whether owning such a thing would count (or if it is a hack of a commercial game then you still have the copyright on the underlying original code, and possibly works derived from it) is a different matter.

To that end strictly under the letter of the law it is questionable at best, outright verboten would probably be where the cautious lawyer lands. Should the police get out, drop the hammer and kick down the door before searching your computer then they would not care, and similarly who would sue you for damages for having it is also in question (the owners of the base game** if it is a hack rather than a straight up homebrew engine some poor Chinese coder had to cobble together being the best bet, which if it is not Nintendo or Capcom is exceedingly unlikely to care in current space year and all future space years to follow) as the one doing the suing has to be the one that owns the rights/is damaged by the act.

**you might still be able to buy it on some virtual console type setup somewhere.

So is that a yes or a no?

 

[SylverReZ]

if you don't want to get a copyright email from your isp, then use usenet or a vpn.

I never do

Post automatically merged: Nov 13, 2022

So is that a yes or a no?

If it matters to you, then don't.

 

[The Catboy]

When there no cops around anything’s legal

 

[M7L7NK7]

What ISP would ever care about unlicensed NES roms, let alone licensed obes

 

[SylverReZ]

What ISP would ever care about unlicensed NES roms, let alone licensed obes

Depends on what ISP you are using.

 

[FAST6191]

So is that a yes or a no?

No answer you ever get from a legal question is likely to be anything other than "it depends", and that is also not withstanding the illegal vs unlawful vs civil penalties distinction which you failed to make and I failed to make clear earlier. You just get more information about circumstances under which it might be permissible and when it might not, who is going to come after you if you do the deed (probably nobody in this case, certainly not the government and if they do it is because you have somehow annoyed them in some other manner), what it might cost you if someone does (likely more to file a lawsuit than they could ever claw back from you or convince a judge/jury you owe them so again nobody on the civil side of things) and while advising on how to commit an act could be ethically dubious for a lawyer then maybe that too*. Similarly I have never so much as heard of someone getting a nastygram from their ISP for downloading a torrent consisting of such things (if it also contained a NES set then might be different matter), much less it winding up in court and I make it my business to follow the lawsuits of such a thing (especially ROM hacks, flash carts and the like).
This pretty much then kicks it to the moral world, in this case is downloading what I presume to be a flagrant misuse of copyrighted and possibly trademarked artwork in what amounts to a fan game (though I still have questions on whether the underlying engine is someone's commercial code) something that is going to cause you or your potential employer if you admit to such shenanigans (we did once see some kid apply for a summer job at the CIA get turned down during a polygraph for copping to downloading some MP3s) some grief. That is a question you can only answer yourself though.

*if someone hypothetically were to download such illicit files you could get a burner laptop (pay cash at garage sale months beforehand, install secure linux to it offline), travel anonymously 4 towns over (preferably avoiding CCTV, maybe also giving yourself an alibi somewhere else), find the wifi password for somewhere, maybe attach it to a truck or something doing a loop such that you can remote control it when it arrives at its destination, download the thing, store on a RAM drive such that you can rip the battery out and it is gone in seconds (possibly encrypt as well), once home store encrypted on SD card hidden under the carpet with some plausible deniability options...

 

[CMDreamer]

if you don't want to get a copyright email from your isp, then use usenet or a vpn.

Even better, change your ISP for one that doesn't spy on your network communications.

 

[SylverReZ]

Even better, change your ISP for one that doesn't spy on your network communications.

Or just use a VPN.