Is it legal

[robbo]

Hi i have one question, on the site http://www.gamebase64.com is game section "NON PUBLISHED" it start here http://www.gamebase64.com/search.php?a=5&f=1&id=39&d=18&p=0 my question is can i download from this section game write to disk and sell legally?

Regards

 

[-Acid-]

I doubt it without the copyright holders permission

 

[khimru]

Nope. Small percentage of these were passed into public domain by authors (you could do what that for these), but most are still copyrighted - and nobody knows which is which (if someone just decided to give up and not publish the game s/he does not lose rights for it, s/he could decide to demand royalties at any time!).

Strictly speaking you shouldn't even download these things (except for these few which were explicitly passed into public domain) but as long as all that activity is strictly non-commercial companies tend to ignore it. Only the copyright holder could say for sure if he gave his permission to spread that game around or not, after all - and to find him (her, it) you need to spend money...

Once there's a tiny chance that game could bring some profit... copyright owner search would be commenced and lawyers will be on your doorstep.

 

[SaviorX]

funnily enough, it even says at the bottom of the page...

"NOTE: This database and all the data contained within are the work of the GameBase64 team. The use of this data elsewhere is strictly prohibited unless explicit written permission is given."

(if nothing else, it is at least a bit of a clue)

 

[khimru]

This disclaimer only covers the database with list of games.
It does not cover games, that's kind of obvious: they even explicitly underscore the fact that "We do not host this gamefile on our server", .

Some of these games (not the "NON PUBLISHED" ones, of course) are still sold for profit (not in original form, usually, mostly in form of ports to various platforms... phones typically).

 

[Zetr0]

@robbo

Firstly - This is in no way legal advice, I am not a lawyer / solicitor or affiliated or accredited in any legal profession, what is written here is my own opinion based on a lot of research into intellectual property for my BSc degree.

I would advise that before you conduct activity that may well be illegal in your country or the market your are selling into - please seek professional legal advice - asking these questions on a website will unlikely get you the correct answer and you could find it leaving you in quite a legal quandary.

To "legally" sell something that is under copyright you must either own it, in the regards of software this means you either have permission (a license) from the authors or are the author of the work. if you have neither then, as in most countries you would be committing copyright infringement. This is a civil matter in most countries (not a criminal one)

The copyright owners could then prosecute you in civil court for damages, this may include loss of "goodwill" as well as loss of revenue "through lost sales" and in addition to any legal costs.


Again - please seek professional legal advice before conduction your endeavour