I have a rather curious question. not to long ago I had a fair collection of video games that were stolen from me (I mentioned it on a couple of threads because I was rather pissed off by it). I have a number of backups from said game collection and can easily prove that I have owned those games (I took a number of pictures some years back and posted them on here) and at one point I plan on rebuying the games again eventually. but I am asking from a legal standpoint since I wanted to start streaming games on sites such as twitch and ustream. I have heard that as long as I could provide undeniable proof that I have owned the physical copy before the theft that I still have a legal right to the backup copy I have on my old computers HDD but I just want to make sure everything is kosher before I proceed. *note* I do not have a single backup of my gamecube games so dont ask about them as I havnt the slightest on how to dump Gamecube Discs...
im afraid not it would be classed as you no longer owning the games (since you dont) but everything depends on where you are located and the local laws e.g. if you claimed for the loss of the games on your house insurance or something similar then you will have been reimbursed and you should spend that money re-buying your games (doesnt matter if some are super rare etc. that you cant find again, thats not the point, the law doesnt care) if you have made a claim and you spent the claim money on other things then you had the opportunity to get those games again but didnt then you still dont own the games, if you didnt make a claim (why?) then you still dont own the games (see a pattern here?) i have hundreds of photographs of my console collection before i sold it all, whats to stop me claiming that i still have the games and consoles? (i can show my pictures as proof), i most likely even have the receipts somewhere too so i could also claim "look i have pics and receipts so i obviously own them?" - all that shows is that at some point you did own them if you want to be 100% legal then you should destroy your backup copies until you have repurchased the games in question not being negative just wanted to point out that the law see's things very differently than we do
The Popo have better things to do than arrest people for making back ups of their games. Don't worry about it.
The whole legality of "backup copies" is a grey area, anyway. People think they have a right to have a backup, but in many cases, they don't. The backup law usually states that it is for destructive media. CDs and cartridges are not considered destructive media, therefore do not need backing up. For example, in the UK: http://www.express.co.uk/life-style...ain-HIgh-Court-CD-DVD-Copy-Rip-Backup-Illegal In fact, if a disc has copy protection on it, it is illegal to copy it (as you'd have to circumvent the copy protection). In most countries, the "right" to back up your CDs and discs was actually not a right.. it was more that personal use backups were technically illegal but it would be overlooked so long as it is your own backup. The DMCA changed that, though: http://info.legalzoom.com/dmca-backup-copyrighted-content-22827.html The exception would be where you purchased a game legally via a download site, and they specifically stated that you may back up the installer or burn a disc from an ISO. Some sites (more music-related) even state that you MUST back up your download as you won't be able to download it again. That's not relevant where a physical collection has been stolen. As you said, you have proof that you OWNED it - past tense. You have no proof that the items were stolen - you could have sold them before the theft. Likewise, an insurance company wouldn't have to pay out as you can't prove you owned the games at the time of the theft. They probably would if you had reasonable evidence or had provided them a list... but they could be arseholes about it.
I've found myself in a spot like this once before. While legally in the states, we don't have the legal authority to make backups of the games we purchase (yet many do because we can as there's no physical prevention of us doing it). On the other hand, as retro mentioned, it's all grey area. There's reasons why you should and reasons why you shouldn't. I can say that when looking into this, if you've made backup copies of said media, if you choose to sell the copy for some reason, you're legally required to sell the original as well (so both your copy and your original). That said, even if you do that, it still shows you copied the game. It's a mess of things, but if it's for safety reasons I would say yes, back em up. Legally speaking I would say no, don't do so. Regarding the Gamecube backups, there's a few ways of doing this, but it's a bit bothersome. PM me and I may be able to help (I can't promise I can though)
Whilst it's grey area and technically not legal but you wouldn't get in trouble for making a backup to protect the original, you're NEVER allowed to sell the backup. That's piracy. You can sell the original and destroy the backup, or give it to the buyer. Ultimately, if you've had your collection stolen, it should be covered on your household contents insurance (whether you had to declare and list items is something you'd have to have taken up with your insurer) and the money they give you is to replace said items.
It is piracy, I wish I remembered where I read the specific quote but it specifically mentioned selling the Original with backups (like ig you were selling archives with the final product for example). But yes, what retro says is the best course of action.
well in terms of repurchasing the games, I was able to repurchase a number of digital copies of my PS2 games from the PSN store (mostly GTA although I had bought them before hand) and as for other games like Final Fantasy X & Metal Gear Solid 3, I bought the HD remasters. would owning the license from the PS2 Classics version still count towards being able to keep my previous GTA backup? considering that I put down money yet again to own the game although it is through a digital medium (they were on sale and I couldnt pass up the deal) sorry if Im over complicating things abit, also to answer the suggestion of household insurance. It was at my mothers apartment in a rather shitty part of the city where things tend to get stolen quite abit, I was out of state at the time. so Im not sure how I should go about that. then again it does seem a tad too complicated for me.. also as for resales, the place where I bought a majority of my games was called CDGameExchange in oregon aswell as a number of them from Gamestop. I believe Gamestop documents purchases and sales while CD Game Exchange documents sales (as you need an ID to sell games in both locations due to the possibility of fencing stolen goods) as I said before, I could get proof of payment (as I use my gamestop account to buy games) whereas I could also get proof I didnt sell any of these games in a similar way. *note* to the guy offering to teach me to back of GCube games, thanks but at the moment I only have 2 GCube games left (TCLA and NFL Street) they arent worth backing up.. plus I dont have a gamecube anymore for the reason stated above... also ended up losing the 2 social security cards I had in my Gameshark box case along with student ID... so yea...
To answer the original question: no backups would not be "legal" if the originals are lost. The legal theory behind the backups is to allow for recovery when the original media is degraded or destroyed. If the original media is transferred (by sale or theft, unfortunately) or lost, there is no legal precedent that I am aware of which would allow you to use the backup media. In this case, whether or not the backups were legal in the first place is irrelevant.
Basically, as long as you keep your backups only for your own personal use - it's okay (maybe illegal but okay, depends on local country/state law). From legal standpoint you absolutely can't share this backups anywhere with somebody (physical or digital) - this is the main thing. But video streaming isn't the same as files sharing. So, Twitch has no tools to check your games for legal status. Thats all.
Most people aren't fit to comment on this, (no offence to your responses) go look it up and decide for yourself. Its always been a grey area.
Easy to answer both questions: A physical copy is different from a download copy. Having the physical copy does not give you the right to download the digital copy - you must purchase it again. The reverse is true - having a digital copy does not give you the right to own a backup of a physical copy, which is technically a different product. Likewise, you can't buy a remastered album from iTunes to excuse your pirated copy of the original - it's technically a different product. (In practice, you're unlikely to be prosecuted.) Insurance is easy. Your Mother's property was burgled. She would have reported this to the Police. She has a crime reference number. She would then have reported any loss to her insurance company, as it is her property (the building) that is insured and made a claim. She should have included your belongings in the claim.
just wanted to start streaming some stuff on PS2. had a decent composite streaming cable picked out and everything... but I guess I will just stick to the PS2 classics on PS3 that I bought. its alot less of a hassle
Technically speaking, the bigger ethical issue is actually do you have permission to stream their copyrighted content? I think it's Sony who actually specifically created a policy granting use of their games (you'd need to work out whether the games you want to stream are covered) - I think probably for non-commercial use so again, you'd need to read the terms to determine if you can monetize such a stream. In both situations, though, most people would take the who cares? stance. Others do it, so why shouldn't I? Not saying that's right, but there are lots doing it... just don't video yourself putting a DVD-R in the console
True. Especially in-game music. I had so much copyright troubles with music in old PS2 games, that nobody cares and nobody knows (developer was closed). Even in-game ambient sound effects can have much restriction at sharing on youtube and similar services. Even Rockstar Games was forced to remove some song from GTA Vice City in android/iOS.
Believe it or not, what used to be my 'local' television channel have an archive of old video cassettes sitting on the shelf, pretty much rotting away. Some of it would be great for DVD release, but they can't. The channel closed, studios were amalgamated, the company was sold off... and now belongs to Disney. During the moves, paperwork was lost. Paperwork that would include what assets were used on which episodes. You can't sell a DVD of a show without permission from copyright holders and those involved (if the actors' contracts didn't say anything about home release) - so it won't happen.
I actually think that there is a way around that. Either through a court order or something... some type a acquisition/forfeiture of forgotten/abandoned assets should be easy since I have everything stored on a PS2 HDD now
