Why using Emulators is considered piracy?

[SHADOWELITE7]

I am currently typing up a research paper for an assignment. I thought this would be a great topic to use because I mainly use DosBox (as well as putting this in retroarch forum which is essentially a main hub for using emulators).

anyone have their own opinions?

also, I haven't fiddled with dosbox as the emulator program. I play games that are bundled with the Emulator like Rogue, Ultima (franchise), SystemShock classic, etc.

[TehSpoopyKitteh]

Originally posted by SHADOWELITE7:

I am currently typing up a research paper for an assignment. I thought this would be a great topic to use because I mainly use DosBox (as well as putting this in retroarch forum which is essentially a main hub for using emulators).

anyone have their own opinions?

also, I haven't fiddled with dosbox as the emulator program. I play games that are bundled with the Emulator like Rogue, Ultima (franchise), SystemShock classic, etc.

The reason emulators are legal, is because an emulator is just a piece of software meant to emulate a game system or outdated OS—but most don't contain any proprietary code.

But emulators aren't useful without game files—or ROMs—or the OS, and those files are almost always an unauthorized copy of of a video game or piece of software that's protected by copyright.

You can only backup those game files (ROM’s) into your own library, but the moment you download them from a website, is the moment you contribute to illegal distribution.

[SHADOWELITE7]

Originally posted by 🐱TehSpoopyKitteh🐱:

Originally posted by SHADOWELITE7:

I am currently typing up a research paper for an assignment. I thought this would be a great topic to use because I mainly use DosBox (as well as putting this in retroarch forum which is essentially a main hub for using emulators).

anyone have their own opinions?

also, I haven't fiddled with dosbox as the emulator program. I play games that are bundled with the Emulator like Rogue, Ultima (franchise), SystemShock classic, etc.

The reason emulators are legal, is because an emulator is just a piece of software meant to emulate a game system or outdated OS—but most don't contain any proprietary code.

But emulators aren't useful without game files—or ROMs—or the OS, and those files are almost always an unauthorized copy of of a video game or piece of software that's protected by copyright.

You can only backup those game files (ROM’s) into your own library, but the moment you download them from a website, is the moment you contribute to illegal distribution.

thanks, this makes sense.

[Dgo]

Originally posted by SHADOWELITE7:

Why using Emulators is considered piracy?

That's not correct. Emulators are perfectly legal. If smb says otherwise it's just ignorance. They may mean roms/isos/bios which are copyright of their respective owners and their distribution ofc is completely illegal.

In regards to this platform, it's kinda contradictory and rules need to get an update bc right now you aren't supposed to even be talking about emulators; however the very platform sells emulators.

As I've mentioned b4, ppl confuse (legal) emulators with (illegal) roms/isos/bios distribution and start to freak out due to fear of justice.

[SHADOWELITE7]

Originally posted by Daegoth Vilfariel:

Originally posted by SHADOWELITE7:

Why using Emulators is considered piracy?

That's not correct. Emulators are perfectly legal. If smb says otherwise it's just ignorance. They may mean roms/isos/bios which are copyright of their respective owners and their distribution ofc is completely illegal.

In regards to this platform, it's kinda contradictory and rules need to get an update bc right now you aren't supposed to even be talking about emulators; however the very platform sells emulators.

As I've mentioned b4, ppl confuse (legal) emulators with (illegal) roms/isos/bios distribution and start to freak out due to fear of justice.

makes sense. I was using "Why using Emulators is considered piracy?" as the title of my research paper (more like an argument of some sorts. Thanks for the info though. I can see where people may get the confusion from.

[Ness_and_Sonic]

There's also system BIOS. Some emulators do need system bios before they can be used, even if they're able to play games from the original media. Some PlayStation emulators are that way. If you need those, you have to figure out how to dump your own BIOS for the system.