Why do people think emulation is illegal?

Their main arguments: Emulators support piracy. Emulation opponents allege that emulators contribute to and encourage software piracy. This is because an emulator is useless if you don't have any software to run on it.
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Why is emulation not piracy?

Technically, emulation is completely legal. GOG, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo all do it to uphold backward compatibility on newer platforms.
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Can you get caught for emulating?

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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Why is Nintendo so against emulation?

Using illegal emulators or illegal copies of games harms development and ultimately stifles innovation. Nintendo respects the intellectual property rights of other companies, and in turn expects others to do the same”. So, it seems that Nintendo thinks that emulation and ROMs hurts development and innovation.
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Can you be sued for using an emulator?

Yes, emulators are legal. But we all know that the overwhelming use of them is in illegal situations. What percentage of emulators are only used to play homebrewed games or commercial games that an individual has personally backed up? Almost all other uses are illegal.
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If you think emulators are illegal, you're wrong

Why is emulation not illegal?

Since the emulator itself doesn't include a copy of that crucial copyrighted BIOS software, it can generally be freely distributed without much legal risk. Unfortunately for the makers of Dolphin, those legal protections probably don't help much in this case.
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Is emulation illegal in USA?

On its own, the possibility of playing older games in whichever environment you please sounds like a nice option to have. But while emulators are free and legal, ROMs are not.
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Is emulating on Xbox illegal?

A few months ago, the Xbox team announced that emulators running in "retail mode" would no longer be legal, and banned all emulators from the Microsoft Store.
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Why did Apple ban emulators?

Apple isn't very clear on its reasoning, but the community believes Apple doesn't allow emulators on its app store because of the likelihood people are using them to play illegally distributed games.
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Why does Apple block emulators?

Why does Apple not allow emulators but Samsung does? Because Apple's iOS is not open source like Android's AOSP program. As a result, it is hard for developers to get a copy of the source code for the operating system and create emulators for it.
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What part of emulation is illegal?

The only illegal part of an emulator, is the ROM you are playing. If you take a ROM from a website, and play it. That is called piracy. Unless, you OWN the physical copy of the game, and use your own ROM you pulled from that cartridge/disc, it is illegal to play the ROMS.
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Is downloading ROMs illegal if you own the game?

No. Any unauthorized copy of a game is a copyright violation. Places try to make up laws to allow for it, but that does not make it true as actualy copyright laws already show such games and emulators to be a violation of said copyright laws.
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Why is it illegal to download ROMs?

Game companies and copyright law don't care if they don't publish or make profit of their old games anymore, it's their copyright and they will consider this as a form of piracy.
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Do ROMs count as piracy?

Pirate copies of game files are often referred to as “ROMs”. The uploading and downloading of pirate copies of Nintendo games is illegal.
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Why is emulating games legal?

While emulation software itself are legal, emulating games is only so when legitimately purchasing the game physically and ripping the contents. Freely downloading or uploading game ROMs across various internet sites is considered to be a form of piracy, and users may be sued for copyright infringement.
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Why are emulators legal but not 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 emulation legal Nintendo?

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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Why did China ban Apple?

Chinese administration expands ban on foreign devices to government agencies and state-owned companies in eight provinces. The ban aims to decrease reliance on American technology and promote the use of domestic exclusive brands.
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Do emulators get you banned?

No, if You use an Emulator, It does not Ban You. The Game detects if You are using an emulator and matches You with players playing using an Emulator. But, if You use a Keyboard and Mouse Directly while Playing a Mobile Device.
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Is RetroArch legal?

Running ROM's and game images via RetroArch is a legal grey area depending on how you obtain such content, but RetroArch itself is not illegal.
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Are PlayStation emulators legal?

Here's a roundup of the best PlayStation emulators available in 2024. The PlayStation emulators below are free and legal to use unless otherwise noted; however, it's unlawful in the United States to download or distribute copyrighted software.
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Are Nintendo ROMs legal?

It is illegal to download a Nintendo ROM from the internet whether or not you own an authentic copy of that game.
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Are Dolphin ROMs legal?

Long answer: Downloading commercial games is illegal and thus strongly frowned upon by the Dolphin developers. To prevent legal issues, this includes gray areas like downloading games which you purchased earlier.
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Is dumping games legal?

Are dumping games legal? In the USA, it is considered legal to make ROM backups of games you physically own for archival/preservation purposes. It is considered illegal to distribute copyrighted ROMs without a license to do so.
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Is Nintendo switch emulation illegal?

“Nintendo is committed to protecting the hard work and creativity of video game engineers and developers,” a spokesperson for Nintendo told Kotaku last May. “This emulator illegally circumvents Nintendo's protection measures and runs illegal copies of games.
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