Is It Not Legal To Download Abandonwares?
Saturday, December 27, 2008 by superman | Discussion: WinCustomize Talk
Hi Friends,
While googling for .....'mario' and 'contra' classic games..... to remind me of my early days of some 10 years back, I got this article.......Well, I don't want to give my mind a feeling of jail. So I thought it worth being discuussed....
Abandonware - Is it legal to download those free classic games?
Classic Gaming
I sometimes like to reminisce about the PC gaming days of old. This was back when you had to make something called a ‘boot disk’ to make your games run properly, and there were no such things as 3D video cards or online multiplayer action. Nowadays, if you go on the web looking for some of your favorite retro games, you may stumble across one of many abandonware sites where the game can be downloaded for free. This article will explain just what abandonware is and the legality behind downloading ‘free’ games from these type sites.
What is Abandonware?
The term abandonware has several meanings, but the most common implementation of the term is given to games that were produced by companies that are no longer in business. Basically, it means you can’t buy the game anymore because it is no longer being produced or supported by the company that originally released it. The justification behind these abandonware websites is that downloading the games for free won’t hurt anyone because nobody is making money off the game any longer. However, that logic is built on a shaky foundation.
Is it Legal to Download Abandonware?
Just because a company is no longer in business does not mean their copyright is no longer in effect. The problem is that when people freely copy and distribute games made by defunct companies, there is nobody around to enforce the copyright. I suppose you could look at it the way a child would when it comes to stealing a cookie out of the jar when nobody is looking. Just because nobody saw you do it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have taken that cookie.
The term ‘abandonware’ means nothing in a legal sense. It’s a catchphrase coined by some webmasters who put together a series of sites in the late 1990’s to promote older games that were no longer available in stores. For a copyright on something to be released so that others may use it, the owner of said copyright must formally release their rights. If a company is going out of business, why would they even do that?
But I Really Want to Play that Game!
In some ways, the downloading of abandonware is as much as moral issue as it is a legal one. I know there are sites where you can easily download hundreds of classic titles, absolutely for free and even with scanned box covers and instruction manuals. However, this is still stealing. Even if no lawyers come after you and no software companies send ‘cease and desist’ letters to the website, it is still not legal unless the original owner of that software has formally released their copyright to the public domain.
As for getting your hands on a retro PC game, there’s always plenty of eBay auctions where people sell old floppy disk games, and usually in lots. You can also check garage sales in your area or look around on Craigslist. You might be surprised what you turn up, plus you’d have the real package instead of just some digital copy. I’m not going to preach right or wrong here, but if you get busted downloading copyrighted software - even if it is decades old - don’t say I didn’t warn you.
My only objection to this article is that in red.... EA is largest gaming company. Several of its NFS versions are available as abandonwares......Can EA not take actions againt those sites?
Thanks.....
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Reply #2 Saturday, December 27, 2008 7:39 AM
I threw out my NFS 1 & 2, they don't work in XP, I shoulda sent them to you 
Reply #3 Saturday, December 27, 2008 7:51 AM
But does the light in the refrigerator really go out? Oops...wrong thread.
Reply #4 Saturday, December 27, 2008 8:15 AM
But does the light in the refrigerator really go out? Oops...wrong thread.
My first wife was rather frigid, if you get my drift. I can tell you that reading in bed was impossible. 
Reply #5 Saturday, December 27, 2008 8:41 AM
Ouch!!!!!
Reply #6 Saturday, December 27, 2008 8:43 AM
Immy....that's what I said on more than one occasion. 
Reply #7 Saturday, December 27, 2008 8:50 AM
I can plainly see that. Your first ex and mine should have got together.....and a fridged time was had by all!
Reply #8 Sunday, December 28, 2008 10:25 AM
Thanks but NFS 2 works on XP and I don't need NFS 1 either.... You should keep them with urself...
I have NFS Underground 2 and Carbon.......and I don't want anymore NFS...
I wanted Mario and Contra ....And I got one mario game ..iand ts free too.....super mario war.......
@ http://smw.72dpiarmy.com/
But there is no contra pc clone not even commercial
Yes it did and yes it did.
Yes it did but I am not asking this... I am asking the authenticity of the article as it claims all the companies unfortunately closed but its not true.... many companies are still in action......and these companies which are still there released them as free to celebrate its success.....and they needed to celebrate to infuse a Goodwill among consumers after they were sure that these titles are too old to excite gamers anymore......
eg.. Rockstar released GTA 1-2 and Wild Metal as free www.rockstargames.com
....EA released NFS 1-4..... www.ea.com
....Ubisoft released POP sands of dune..etc....... www.ubisoft.com
So the author should have included that u can get the titles if the companies still exist.....so I suspect If the author has given some oldware links in his blog?.......
After all, I am a management student and I should see everything as business so I smelt business in that article.....
So I would say wikipedia is a better source to define abandonware and not this article......
Reply #9 Sunday, December 28, 2008 11:05 AM
If the Software is abandoned, then what I wrote remains unchanged.
If the Company is still in business and chooses to release it as Freeware, then download and play on.
Usually these companies have a "contact us". e-mail them and ask if the game has become freeware or not. Act accordingly.
What in all this is unclear?
Reply #10 Sunday, December 28, 2008 11:53 AM
Oh, I don't know if I agree with this, Doc. Having dated several policemen/law enforcement people in my past, I can tell you, certain "laws" only exist so that certain "types" can be prosecuted. The question to ask yourself isn't if there is no policeman around, is it OK to break the law, but rather "Am I one of the drones they're looking for?" Another question to be asked is "what is the letter of the law and what is the spirit of the law."
There are a lot of laws that a society would be better off not having, and their very existence on the books HARMS the society, and breaking those laws improves society. The Boston Tea Party was blatantly illegal, but it was a necessary to improve society. A runaway slave during the period of our history where slavery was legal, was considered to be violating the law, but obviously NEEDED to happen so that slavery could be abolished. Under prohibition, alcohol was blatantly illegal, and the law needed to be broken due to the fact that it was creating uncessary criminals. It was taking good people and forcing them into the classification of criminal by making a relatively benign business (which can be taxed and benefit society) into a gold mind that was exploited by malicious people, as well as the good people, thereby blurring the classification of the two types of people.
Civil disobedience is sometime the only path to rectifying injustices that are wrapped up in "the law." When more than 50% of the population is engaging or has engaged in breaking a certain law, then it's time to question what the purpose of that law is! Laws are enacted by governments that are suppose to represent "the people," but when the majority of the people repeatedly break that law or disregard that law, one must ask whom exactly this law is protecting and why? One must also question, in a free society, whether certain laws are patently absurd, and contrary to the spirit of the very society the law claims to be protecting.
Reply #11 Sunday, December 28, 2008 2:01 PM
Don't you mean draft? 
And use your left hand....it'll feel like someone else.
Reply #12 Sunday, December 28, 2008 2:08 PM
I threw out my NFS 1 & 2, they don't work in XP, I shoulda sent them to you
Thanks but NFS 2 works on XP and I don't need NFS 1 either.... You should keep them with urself...
That's weird, even on win95 it was glitched, it could only play in DOS, kinda miss them though.. funny old graphics hehe
Yeah I have Underground, Carbon and Most Wanted
Reply #13 Sunday, December 28, 2008 3:43 PM
I could say alot on this issue, but I'll just add a little somethign to think about...
Doing illegal things doesn't make you a criminal. You may be immoral, evil, stupid, crazy or anything else, but you won't be a criminal until a court of law has ruled you as one.
Personally I don't really give a **** about what's legal or not, I go by a single law, common sense. I've never been arrested, never killed anyone, never been put on trial for anything I've ever done.
If I would want to play some abandonware (which I really don't...), I'll download it and play it... It may or may not be illegal, I don't care, and I'm confident that I won't be put on trial for it... I'm not a criminal. 
Reply #14 Sunday, December 28, 2008 3:49 PM
No, you're not a criminal, but morally, it's wrong.. not a big issue really, it depends on your conscience.. can your conscience handle it? the fact that you KNOW it's improper, but yet you do it anyway?
I'd rather get permission from the companies, and play them guilt-free
Also they aren't really abandoned.. more dormant
Reply #15 Sunday, December 28, 2008 4:01 PM
I focus my moral conscience on things like "don't hurt other people". This is an issue I wouldn't lose any sleep over. If someone really get hurt by me playing some game that's not for sale anymore, they should probably see a therapist rather than sue me over it.
It wouldn't be like I'm rereleasing stuff as if it was my creation or something else that REALLY would cause concerns for my conscience ...
Most games are not even allowed to be resold (EULAs galore thing...), I don't think anyone lose any sleep over THAT issue...
Reply #16 Sunday, December 28, 2008 4:22 PM
Hehe, its almost TAX time again, wonder how many cheaters will be breaking the law!
Reply #17 Sunday, December 28, 2008 4:44 PM
Have you watched From Freedom to Fascism? I'd be cautious about the term "cheater" when it comes to United States Income Taxes, since I'm not completely certain taxing citizens income is actually legal. I keep paying mine (don't have a lot of choice on that matter, they take it out of my check before I see it), mainly because I'm a good little worker ant who doesn't have the luxury to be able to upset the apple cart, due to the fact that I'm responsible for a lot of others, but if I just had myself to take care of, I'd be a political prisoner in no time at all. After what our government just pulled with the bailouts of the banks and soon the big three auto makers, the lines of who is a cheater and who is a patriot are in question.
Reply #18 Sunday, December 28, 2008 5:03 PM
Don't you mean draft? And use your left hand....it'll feel like someone else.
It IS someone else...Jose hose A as opposed to hose B. why i never became a fireman.
And it was HER draft, WG...ie..opening the fridge door.
Personally I don't really give a **** about what's legal or not, I go by a single law, common sense. I've never been arrested, never killed anyone, never been put on trial for anything I've ever done. <-- Not having been indicted, or charged and tried doesn't make you honest or smart. It only means you haven't been caught. I seem to remember something about an honest person being one who behaves consistently with the law even when a Policeman isn't around.
It really isn't worth arguing about, though. I doubt I'll convince you and vice versa.
Reply #19 Sunday, December 28, 2008 6:07 PM
IMHO, it's in gray area. Yes, it's illegal. Does companies care enough to go for you?
Also, it may be only method to preserve old games that no company cares enough to improve or even save for historic reasons. No media lasts forever, and having copies at many places ensures that in least some kind of copy survives into future.
Reply #20 Sunday, December 28, 2008 6:17 PM
XX, you have a good point, but you could always ask their permission
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Reply #1 Saturday, December 27, 2008 7:30 AM
You ask a question whose answer is obvious: If there's no Policeman around, is it OK to break the law?
Obviously not. Otherwise we would need a society where each person would need a Policeman to accompany him/her everywhere.
You mitigate this by saying, "Well, I can't buy it and I'm hurting no one if I just take it."
That is incorrect. Any act breaking the law harms the society involved and the person as well. Once you violate a boundary (ie, violate a norm of the society codified in law) you are more likely to do so with other norms/laws you deem foolish or illogical.
This is the definition of arrogance. Clearly, you do not wish to violate the law, so don't.
This answers the question, "If a tree falls in the woods when no one is around to hear it, did it fall? Did it make any noise?"
Yes it did and yes it did.