<
https://www.gamesradar.com/games/publishers-are-absolutely-terrified-preserved-video-games-would-be-used-for-recreational-purposes-so-the-us-copyright-office-has-struck-down-a-major-effort-for-game-preservation/>
'A three-year fight to help support game preservation has come to a sad end
today. The US copyright office has denied a request for a DMCA exemption that
would allow libraries to remotely share digital access to preserved video
games.
"For the past three years, the Video Game History Foundation has been
supporting with the Software Preservation Network (SPN) on a petition to allow
libraries and archives to remotely share digital access to out-of-print video
games in their collections," VGHF explains in its statement. "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."
Essentially, this exemption would open up the possibility of a digital library
where historians and researchers could 'check out' digital games that run
through emulators. The VGHF argues that around 87% of all video games released
in the US before 2010 are now out of print, and the only legal way to access
those games now is through the occasionally exorbitant prices and often failing
hardware that defines the retro gaming market.
Still, the US copyright office has said no. "The Register concludes that
proponents did not show that removing the single-user limitation for preserved
computer programs or permitting off-premises access to video games are likely
to be noninfringing," according to the final ruling. "She also notes the
greater risk of market harm with removing the video game exemption’s premises
limitation, given the market for legacy video games."
That ruling cites the belief of the Entertainment Software Association and
other industry lobby groups that "there would be a significant risk that
preserved video games would be used for recreational purposes." We cannot, of
course, entertain the notion that researchers enjoy their subjects for even a
moment. More importantly, this also ignores the fact that libraries
already
lend out digital versions of more traditional media like books and movies to
everyday people for what can only be described as recreational purposes.'
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
