emulators and roms (in Off-topic)

anybody know a few good sites for finding good emulators and or roms? too be honest, just the Fire Emblems is what i'm specifically looking for (been in love with this game forever lol). So if you know, please post here... either works, just a good emulator/rom site, or, if you know where fire emblem is specifically, that one is better. thanks a ton guys and gals.

Emulators and Roms are usually illegal and thus not the topic for conversation on CB forums.

Aren't they only illegal if the user does not own a hard-copy version?

yep

i own 3 of the hard copies of 9, but the sad thing is that the 3 i own are all in japanese.....so its kind of difficult for me to get the storyline, since i don't know any japanese.

I thought they were illegal no matter what if you had the original or not...

IANAL!
At least in the US, people with a license (the hard copy version) should be allowed to have copies of ROMs. It's well within the lines of what I understand fair use is supposed to do.

Emulators usually are legal. Roms are illegal, except when you already have the original, or the owner of the copyright has given explicit permission for it.

Disclaimer: IANAL.

IANAL?

"IANAL?"

Clearly it's "Lanai" spelled backwards. :P

GL: I Am Not A Lawyer.

*drool* @ the thought of the Christmas hot dogs on Lanai...

Umm... Yeah. Nothing says "Christmas" quite like hot dogs. ;)

These were magical red hot dogs that tasted like someone had a line on pig made out of all bacon or something...

From Nintendo.com

Can I Download a Nintendo ROM from the Internet if I Already Own the Authentic Game?

There is a good deal of misinformation on the Internet regarding the backup/archival copy exception. It is not a "second copy" rule and is often mistakenly cited for the proposition that if you have one lawful copy of a copyrighted work, you are entitled to have a second copy of the copyrighted work even if that second copy is an infringing copy. The backup/archival copy exception is a very narrow limitation relating to a copy being made by the rightful owner of an authentic game to ensure he or she has one in the event of damage or destruction of the authentic. Therefore, whether you have an authentic game or not, or whether you have possession of a Nintendo ROM for a limited amount of time, i.e. 24 hours, it is illegal to download and play a Nintendo ROM from the Internet.

They've also said that renting video games is stealing...so again IANAL, but Nintendo isn't a good source for a sane opinion either.

Technically me ripping my legally purchased CD's to put on my iPod is also illegal according to RIAA etc., but that doesn't necessarily make it true. I've yet to encounter a court case where the RIAA sues someone for ripping their CD's onto an iPod etc., despite all their claims that is illegal.

If the 3 copies you own are all in Japanese I'd guess those are illegal anyway so this is a moot point...

yea, well.... Frogs don't ribbit, they croak and die...


And yes, thats what i heard, you can download and use roms for 24 hours, but after that it is illegal. But i hate roms anyways, not the same without the classic controllers.

The "24 hour rule" is, as far as I've ever seen, utter bunk. I've never seen it backed up by any reference to a real law.

As far as I understand copyright law, copies of ROMs are simply illegal, period, unless 1) they're explicitly allowed by the copyright owner, or 2) the copies fall under the "fair use" provisions of copyright law, and "fair use" has a very limited applicability to something like a ROM.

Just because you legally possess the cartridge doesn't make it legal to _download_ the ROM image, either, any more than owning a copy of Windows would protect you if Microsoft caught you downloading it from a warez site.

I've seen some twisty interpretations of the law that imply that pulling an image from a set of ROMs you do legally possess might be legal, but I don't think that is your situation, and in any event, the slightest bit of obfuscation in the ROM makes the DMCA applicable.

I'm not a lawyer, either, so add salt with great gusto.

Is the 24 hour rule in any way related to the 3 second rule. For those not familiar, the 3 second rule states that food dropped on the floor and picked up within 3 seconds may be safely eaten. This 24 hour sounds similar and I'm curious to find out if they are somehow related.

So I guess the answer to is buy one of the many huge compilations available. The folks building kiosk style pay to play machines have to be buying their licenses somewhere...

Also, isn't there something about freeware.... Just to muddy the waters somewhat.

Like all your old ZX Spectrum classics are ok to use with emulators, as they are all old freeware now, but emulating the X-Box 360 will bring down the full wrath of Bill Gates upon you?

What do you mean with "freeware"? It's not a legal concept...

IANAL. ;)

Or is it shareware. All these terms confuse me. :P

Aren't there very old games that no one supports/has the rights to any more, that are part of the public domain?

Like old Spectrum classics?

I think you mean Public Domain. But it takes a little while before a work enters the public domain. The exact time depends on what country you are in, but it is between 50 and 70 years after the death of the author in most countries (the US tends to extend this period time after time, $$ stops Mickey Mouse from entering the Public Domain).

Anything *not* in the Public Domain does require a license from the copyright holder if you want to distribute it.