[JemyM]

arr

[Sotaria]

If we are going to talk about copyright law, let's also talk about Consumer Protection laws. I am sick of buying games that are not supported or where the company just makes excuses for why their games will not work even though my system meets all requierments.

I am a published author and as an author I can guantee you that I do NOT get the kind of protection that film makers and other rich people get. If you want to Xerox my entire books at the library ... you can! As long as you don't sell them, you can do it and I don't get a dime! If you want to write in the margins, tear our pages and sell it on E-bay for $100 (like Clean Flicks used to do for films), you can!! Now admittedly, if my book is out of print and you are distributing copies (not originals) then it is suspect, but illegal? I'm not sure.

The truth is that 50 years ago the copyright laws were pure and simple. This is an example of lawyers gone wild. Two different lawyers will argue an entirely different side of the issue from one week to the next depending on their motives. It is a sad commentary to the courts which waste time contradicting each other ... and DON'T fool yourselves, the court themselves have contradicted each other. Home of the Underdogs remains open for one reason ... they are in compliance with international law. How many abandonware places have been shut down over the years? Many. HOTU remains open because they are careful to obey the laws. Now while some of you will argue to the contrary, you are wrong. If a product is not supported and you are not charging money for a copy, it is not a clearcut violation of the law. Note "clearcut."

[Eleri]

Originally Posted by Aurebesh

GameTap doesn't change anything in my opinion. They offer a subscription based service, you don't get to keep the games. If they go out of business, or you cancel the subscription, you'll lose access to the games. If you download an abandonware copy, you can play the game whenever you want, even years from now.
And, of course, and I guess that's obvious, GameTap will never have ALL abandonware games on their servers.

ahhh, but if a game that was formerly abandonware shows up as a commercially available proguct again through GameTap, Is that game still in the grey area of abandonware, or is downloading now just theft of something you could buy? If GT was to go out fo buisness, then everything goes back to the grey area. But if you're not subscribin, you're making an actuve choice to not purchace the game as available.

[Gonchi]

Originally Posted by Eleri

ahhh, but if a game that was formerly abandonware shows up as a commercially available proguct again through GameTap, Is that game still in the grey area of abandonware, or is downloading now just theft of something you could buy? If GT was to go out fo buisness, then everything goes back to the grey area. But if you're not subscribin, you're making an actuve choice to not purchace the game as available.

I also don't think Gametap's existance changes anything. Besides Aurebesh's point about not owning games downloaded by Gametap, there's also the fact that they're still US (and Canada now) exclusive, meaning everyone else in the world doesn't have that choice between a legal download or an abandonware rip/image (at this point).