GamesUS copyright law ‘forces researchers to explore extra-legal methods’ for game preservation, say historians who are ‘disappointed’ after being denied a DMCA exemptionWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesUS copyright law ‘forces researchers to explore extra-legal methods’ for game preservation, say historians who are ‘disappointed’ after being denied a DMCA exemptionWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Sega)
The VGHF has been working with the Software Preservation Network on a petition for a change to DMCA regulations that would allow libraries and archives to remotely share access to “out of print” games in their collections. “Under the current anti-circumvention rules in Section 1201 of the DMCA, libraries and archives are unable to break copy protection on games in order to make them remotely accessible to researchers,” VGHF said.
The ESA also claimed that “there remains a substantial market for classic games,” and that allowing “widespread remote access to preserved games with minimal supervision would present a serious risk to an important market.”
“Proponents [of videogame preservation] have not met their burden of showing that reproducing works to allow for multiple simultaneous use in the computer program class is likely to be fair,” therulingstates. “The Register also finds that proponents have not met their burden of showing that the proposed off-premises uses in the video game class are likely to be fair.”
In response to the decision, the VGHF said it has “no regrets about going through this process,” adding that its efforts have raised awareness about the importance of videogame preservation. But it did not mince words about its disappointment.
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“The game industry’s absolutist position—whichthe ESA’s own members havedeclined to go on the record to support—forces researchers to explore extra-legal methods to access the vast majority of out-of-print video games that are otherwise unavailable.”
Despite the loss, the VGHF said it’s “not done fighting.”
“We will continue our advocacy for greater access and legal allowances for video game preservation and working with members of the game industry to increase internal awareness around these issues,” the org said.
https://t.co/tuGsUZMrcp pic.twitter.com/AyPu072rrYOctober 25, 2024
https://t.co/tuGsUZMrcp pic.twitter.com/AyPu072rrYOctober 25, 2024
And there may be hope for success in the future: DMCA exemption rules are updated every three years, and the ruling recommends “clarifying the single copy restriction language” in proposed rule changes, which “will address the perceived ambiguity in the current exemption, while serving the single-user limitation’s intended purpose to minimize the risk of substitutional uses of preserved computer programs.”
The need for videogame preservation is growing increasingly urgent. In a 2023 study, the Video Game History Foundation said 87% of videogames are “critically endangered,” meaning they’re effectively inaccessible without either piracy or travelling to an authorized archive and playing them on site.
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Palestinian developer raises more than $200,000 to make Dreams on a Pillow, a game about the horrors of the 1948 Nakba
Piranha Games will lay off employees after Mechwarrior 5: Clans ‘performed below projections’
Marvel Rivals’ latest update quietly killed the game’s burgeoning mod scene
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