Ok, so it's legal, but is it right?

Emulation simply makes one hardware platform act like another. There is nothing wrong with making the hardware you own behave the way you want it to. That is exactly what software is for, it makes the hardware you own behave in a useful manner. Emulation is not used simply for playing console games on a PC. Emulators exist for all kinds of hardware and all types of platforms. Console emulation is only part of a very large emulation community.

Are ROM images legal?

Yes, under very specific circumstances. Section 117 of the US Copyright Law gives the owner of a software package the right to make an additional copy under certain provisions. If you adhere to the provisions then making ROM images is perfectly legal. However, legislation has been passed to prevent software piracy that makes game copying devices illegal. Using such a device to create a ROM image makes the resulting image illegal as well.

Are your ROM images legal?

Yes. We have taken great pains to fulfill every letter of the law. Our images were made by our own personnel. The data was copied directly off the cartridges we own and the image was transferred using a generic EPROM reader. All of these steps were taken in accordance with the law.

Is distributing ROM images legal?

No, not clearly. Individuals and Companies have a right to back up their software. This does not give them the right to distribute that copy to others, even provided they also own a legal copy of the software. So, in short, it is perfectly legal for you to copy a software package you own, but not for you to give that copy away.

Aren't you distributing ROM images?
No. The way our service works is simple. Our clients log into our service, they then can browse a list of available games. Once a user has selected a game our server locks that image so that no one else can use it. This ensures that we are never using more copies of a game than we own, that would be copyright infringement. If the connection between the client and server is broken the game no longer functions on the client and the server unlocks the game for other players. We allow you to rent our games, not buy them. We allow you to access our ROMs, but we don't distribute them.

So you're basically an internet video rental place?

Exactly. There is no ideological difference between our service and that of any common video rental store. We have simply taken a classic idea and brought it to the web. This will certainly become commonplace as the internet expands and bandwidth increases. We are merely spearheading a small piece of a huge industry.

What would happen if Nintendo ever found you?

On June 21, 2001 Nintendo Of America (NOA) wrote us a letter concerning the legal status of our service. They informed us that it was the feeling of NOA that we were participating in pirate activity. We assured them that we were not involved in any such activity. Since that time we have received no further contact from NOA. You can read the NOA Letter and the Console Classix Reply here.

» View the letter from NOA
» View the response from Console Classix