You might be referring to this decision. It was broadly misquoted (the reporting is often quite shoddy on copyright issues). Quote:
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Copyright.gov
Computer programs and video games distributed in formats that have become obsolete and that require the original media or hardware as a condition of access, when circumvention is accomplished for the purpose of preservation or archival reproduction of published digital works by a library or archive. A format shall be considered obsolete if the machine or system necessary to render perceptible a work stored in that format is no longer manufactured or is no longer reasonably available in the commercial marketplace.
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This is about old classic games for which the media/hardware required to play them is no longer manufactured or "reasonably available" on the marketplace. Jazz Jackrabbit 1 and 2, which plays on PCs, which are still very reasonably available on the marketplace, does not fall under this law. Nor does most popular abandonware, which is avaible on media/consoles which are still easy to get. In addition, it seems to be allowed for archival purposes only, not personal use. The ruling does not mention "Abandonware" since it's not a legal concept and does not exist in any official way. Hence, it can hardly be legalised. Relevant explanation.
In short, this ruling does not make it legal to distribute or attain Jazz Jackrabbit 1 or 2 without paying for it. The same will *always* count for Jazz Jackrabbit 3 which has never seen an official release.
Last edited by FQuist; Jan 26, 2007 at 08:49 AM.
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