Are game emulators legal?

While emulation software itself are legal as long as they don't infringe copyright protections on the console, emulating games is only so when legitimately purchasing the game physically and ripping the contents.
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Are playing games on emulators illegal?

If you own a game physically, you are likely to emulate or own a ROM of the game. However, there's no legal precedent in the United States to say it's illegal. There is no trial on record of any company going to court over emulators or ROMs and their use.
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How can emulators be legal?

Emulators are perfectly legal, and also perfectly ethical. There is nothing wrong with writing code, or using code, that happens to behave the same as other hardware or software. There is something illegal about using code that is actually copyrighted. This includes Roms, Disc images, and even bios images.
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Are Pokemon caught on an emulator legal?

Emulators/ROMs

As long as the original, unaltered code of the game is used, Pokémon obtained via ROMs played on emulators or flash carts are considered legitimate. Using emulator features and codes such as speed-up, item duplication, etc. that do not affect the game's code itself are allowed.
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Can you get sued for emulation?

There have been a handful of emulator lawsuits; described below are three emulator-related legal incidents, one of which is highly significant in that it may finally be the case that sets the precedent for all such cases to follow.
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Emulators and Roms are they LEGAL?

Can you go to jail for emulation?

So basically Emulation is completely legal, Roms can be legal but usually aren't.
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Does Nintendo sue people who download ROMs?

Nintendo wins $12 million judgment against ROM websites

The two sites allowed users to download ROMs for classic Nintendo games. Nintendo filed a lawsuit against the defendants back in July, claiming the sites infringed upon their copyrights and trademarks.
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Is Nintendo okay with emulation?

Therefore, the copyrights of games are valid even if the games are not found on store shelves, and using, copying and/or distributing those games is a copyright infringement. While we recognize the passion that players have for classic games, supporting emulation also supports the illegal piracy of our products.
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Is it legal to emulate discontinued games?

Even if you previously owned the game you no longer have that right so you will be in breach of the copyright laws.
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Is a Nintendo switch emulator legal?

Emulation software itself is not inherently illegal, as shown by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals case Sony Computer Entertainment v. Connectix Corporation in 2000.
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Are emulators considered piracy?

Emulators that utilize a ROM BIOS that is copyrighted or patented are illegal. All computer systems have a Basic Input-Output System, or BIOS, stored in the Read-Only Memory. The BIOS is a critical part of any system and must be faithfully reproduced in an emulator if that emulator is to function correctly.
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Why did Nintendo sue Yuzu?

In its legal complaint, Nintendo claimed Yuzu was “facilitating piracy at a colossal scale,” giving users “detailed instructions” on how to “get it running with unlawful copies of Nintendo Switch games,” among other things.
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Why is Nintendo taking down emulators?

The request says the repositories in question “offer and provide access to the yuzu emulator or code,” adding that “yuzu illegally circumvents Nintendo's technological protection measures and runs illegal copies of Nintendo Switch games.” Nintendo argues that Yuzu uses “unauthorized” versions of the cryptographic keys ...
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Are emulators risky?

The emulators themselves are more likely to give you viruses or otherwise compromise your system than the roms are. Of course if you download from the official sources rather than some random mirror site, you're usually pretty safe.
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Is it cheating if you use an emulator?

However, in mobile games, cheaters can also use emulators in order to impact the rate of play, extract data used in the game, and trick the game logic into awarding unfair advantages to the cheater. This is why emulators using to cheat in mobile games are known as App Players.
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How is a Dolphin emulator legal?

According to the license, you may use Dolphin and its source code for any purpose, but distributing Dolphin requires that the source code be released and attribution given.
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Will I get in trouble for downloading ROMs?

Emulators are legal to download and use, however, sharing copyrighted ROMs online is illegal. There is no legal precedent for ripping and downloading ROMs for games you own, though an argument could be made for fair use.
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Is it legal to pirate games that aren t sold anymore?

Rarely has any abandonware case gone to court, but it is still unlawful to distribute copies of old copyrighted software and games, with or without compensation, in any Berne Convention signatory country.
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Is emulation illegal in USA?

While emulation software itself are legal as long as they don't infringe copyright protections on the console, emulating games is only so when legitimately purchasing the game physically and ripping the contents.
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Are Nintendo mods legal?

It is illegal to import, market, sell or distribute circumvention devices (such as game copiers, USB piracy sticks and mod chips). Nintendo has obtained many decisions from criminal and civil courts across the world that confirms this.
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Is pirating Nintendo games illegal?

Online piracy and counterfeiting of Nintendo's video game products is illegal. We hope to enlist your support for intellectual property protection and, with your help, reduce video game piracy worldwide.
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Has anyone ever gone to jail for downloading a ROM?

But no one has ever been prosecuted for it – not even once. Mind you, websites sourcing ROMs have often been asked to shut down.
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Do ROMs count as piracy?

If you see games offered for download using Peer-to-Peer networks, or by clicking on links to files hosted on third-party platforms, the content that you are accessing is an unauthorised copy (i.e. a pirate copy). Pirate copies of game files are often referred to as “ROMs”.
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What does Nintendo think of ROMs?

It is illegal to download a Nintendo ROM from the internet whether or not you own an authentic copy of that game. Nintendo pretty much doesn't want you to use ROMS of their games that they don't provide. Nintendo have even brought ROM site owners to court over this.
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