Legally Resurrecting Old Video Games

[Yonjuro]

See the video for the gory details.

 

The tl;dr version is that libraries are trying to get exemptions from copyright law to allow them to bypass DRM on old games in order to preserve the games. The Library of Congress has given them a partial ok - libraries can do this but can't enlist volunteers to help. That essentially means it won't get done because libraries don't typically have the people to do what is necessary.

 

 In three years this will be revisited. If you care about what happens to old games when the DRM servers go dark, you might want to be aware of what's going on.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mo8Fj6TkWik

[Fenixp]

Well... They may not have the people, but all derivatives of copyrighted binaries still belong to the copyright holder most of the time, so I assume many libraries can do what GOG did on many occassions: Just grab a crack or download an illegal copy and start from there.

 

Anyway, good initiative. Hope it'll pass in US and gets widespread globally.

Edited November 13, 2018 by Fenixp

[Yonjuro]

Well... They may not have the people, but all derivatives of copyrighted binaries still belong to the copyright holder most of the time, so I assume many libraries can do what GOG did on many occassions: Just grab a crack or download an illegal copy and start from there.

 

 That might work, but I think that would fall under work not done by the library staff and not be in accord with the legal decision. Maybe one of our resident lawyers can give a more informed opinion than I can though.