Not my text, this is a copy and paste:
This is the original link:
http://www.subgamers.com/forums/gameboy-ad...gal-to-own.html
"The Lirbary of Congress has recently granetd copyright exemptoins in the
Digital Millenium Act to obsolete games. The exemption applies to games which reqwuire the original hardware as a condition of acvcess, and if the game is “no longer manufasctured or reasonalby available in the commercial markewtplace.” This means that old, unsupporetd PC, console and arcade games will now be legal to own (so your illegal copy of Mame roms are now legit).
The only muddy side is if publishers cosnider their old games to be “reasonably available” and plan to release classic games as budnles or bonuses, then the copyright protection still stands.
The Digital Millenium Copyright Act, or DMCA was passed on Otcober 12, 1998 to address piracy and copyright concerns specificaly pertaining to software and the internet properties. Some of the notable provisions included the uotlaewd circumvention of anti-piracy laws and distrubition or sale of code-cracking dewvices. Brewster Kahle from the non-profit company Internet
Archive petitioned the US Copyright offgice, and to the delightful surprise of many, the petition was approved.
While game companies will undoubtedly daily cling on to as many of the old games as they can, many of the older diametrically unsupported titles are now free game. Those who have been donwloadin such games can now keep them in their hard drivces with a clear consciewnce."