Hardware Packaging roms with devices?

[ulao]

I'm sure this question is old as dirt and yeah not looking for legal advice here but was really curios more than anything. Everyone that collects roms knows that you can not sell an HD on ebay with loaded roms. Hell you are not really permitted to download roms...well legally.. but what about those OHYA/retron5 like systems, don't they come with roms on them? Maybe I'm mistaken and they suggest you to download your own roms but I though some of those units came with roms? If so, how did they get away with that.

 

[FAST6191]

"Hell you are not really permitted to download roms...well legally"
I have yet to see that qualified with any kind of legislation, case law, implication from other laws/fields or even basic principles. It is just something I see floated in circles like these.

As far as I am aware the retron5 is an emulator device coupled with a cart reader/ROM and save dumper.

Going the hypothetical you pose though, as I am sure a scan of the usual places would find such a thing, it tends to be a) very small fly by night companies selling them and not making much profit, b) old games (I know official emulation exists but it is still old games and old news, and lawyers cost real money to set on things so go after those that might trouble your actual concerns) and c) the things come out of China anyway and any lawyer suggesting even a legal style data request to something in China would probably be fired on the spot for incompetence.

 

[Mikemk]

Generally commercial devices preloaded with roms have either:

• The manufacturer's own games (eg Mini NES)
• Clones of popular games. As long as the names are different, it's legal.
• Unknown retro games the copyright owner didn't care about. The manufacturer can get them for cheap.

 

[slaphappygamer]

Many years ago, I bought some dvds. Just so happened they had a full mame rom set on them.