I was thinking about the eternal question "are legal to hold ROM images -or DSK or BAS etc...- of old systems?"

I know the answer : is NOT legal create, distribute and/or hold copyrighted games without the expressal consentiment of the owner but......

well, damn it! really anybody can think people are gonna pay for this old stuff, it means... I know there are a lot of people who loves old systems and they want to pay for their use (buying old MSX, buying old cartridges, disks, magazines...) but the majority wants to remember and enjoy all this stuff. My question is aim to determine if is really ethic to hold copyrights and claim for the use of old games (despite they still being as addictives as the beginning).

This is expandable to MAME ROMS, Atari, ZX Spectrum... why can't use this old software freely? I know most of us are enjoying this but... it's a taboo yet

(I hope this question can't result on a SWAT incursion on my home or the immediately expulsion of the Forums nervous he he)

Well.. if you can't get the original because it is out of stock, then I don't see any reason why one shouldn't get a copy or a dsk version for en emu. (The alternative would be that you wouldn't be able to play the game, *ever*)

But legally, you can't

This would be the same as: can you download/copy a movie-soundtrack cd which has gone out-of-print? I take the soundtrack example because soundtracks are most of the time only released during the release of that movie, or in case of limited sold-out re-releases such as The Towering Inferno by F.S.M.

I had this problem when wanting to buy Castlevania Symphony of the Night for PSX. It was completely sold out everywhere I looked! So I was forced to pirate it

Well, just because nobody is making money with a product that is copyrighted, doesn't mean other people can make money with it. And it certainly doesn't mean we can pretend there's no copyright anymore. Fortunately we have seen several companies (like Alice soft) declaring their old products freeware!

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...(The alternative would be that you wouldn't be able to play the game, *ever*) But legally, you can't ...

Agree with that... it's the meaning of my question, if this kind of games (eg. Konami cartridges for MSX) were not dumped to .ROM for emus, probably none of us can still enjoying this wonderful games... (certainly only a few people would search and find this software). A sad situation solved by emus and "relaxing" ROM distribution on internet

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Well, just because nobody is making money with a product that is copyrighted, doesn't mean other people can make money with it....

You got it snout, the key of the trouble is don't look for earn $ selling this stuff.

I have thousands of ROM and DSK for MSX working on different MSX emulators, I'm only had to search on internet, and I was "harvesting" them to enjoy and play, and remember old times.

I don't think that I'm breaking a copyright 'cause I'm not going to buy all this software anyway (not all of them in any case ) and sure I'm not going to sell this games to earn $ (bleach! is not ethic!)

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I have thousands of ROM and DSK for MSX working on different MSX emulators

Do you happen to have a internet site where you can download them
I'm still looking for most of the games i played as a child...

The policy of the MRC will get you as far as talking this way about copyrights Linking to sites that provide 'warez' is strictly prohibited (as can be seen in our policy)

Ok... this will be slightly off-topic, but still related to this thread. As a subscriber to MC(C)M until the end, I have the Millennium cds (see www.mccm.aktu.nl/millennium/index.htm). It contains many images of copyrighted software, including Konami roms. At the time, MCCM staff claimed that they had secured permission of the copyright owners, but I find it hard to believe that e.g. Konami would have granted this permission. Can anyone tell me whether I am a legal owner of this software?

You are, Konami (and all other companies/authors) did give permission.
But it's illegal for you to distribute any of it to other people or internet sites.

... and the game is not 'yours' as if you've bought it. You're only permitted to use it from the CD-ROM.

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>> Do you happen to have a internet site where you can download them I'm still looking for most of the games i played as a child...<<

I'm affraid all these ROMs and DSKs were "harvested" along several months searching on internet ... if you really like them be patient and search, all of them are there