Is it legal to own a ROM of a game from a compilation?

[J.D]

Eh, sorry to bump an old thread.

Me, I download ROMs of games I own.

But there are some ROMs I try (that I don't own). If Nintendo isn't directly selling a game on VC, I'd go ahead and emulate it. It's not like Nintendo is getting any money from you buying Crystalis from uburnurd1998 on eBay or anything. That's what I would do.

[GSZX1337]

Eh, sorry to bump an old thread.

Me, I download ROMs of games I own.

But there are some ROMs I try (that I don't own). If Nintendo isn't directly selling a game on VC, I'd go ahead and emulate it. It's not like Nintendo is getting any money from you buying Crystalis from uburnurd1998 on eBay or anything. That's what I would do.

I resent that. My friend uburnurd1998 sells Ninty games on eBay and has to give Nintendo commission.

[TheFallOfMan]

I've understood that it's perfectly legal to own a rom if you have purchased a copy of the real thing, and dumped the game yourself.

[Bloodandbourbon]

i dont lose any sleep over what i download

[crux]

I don't think I've seen many forums with quite as many necrobumps as this one. Though in fact, I don't see why people mind (not on this forum necessarily, but in general). People always complain about superfluous topics - so what's wrong with old superfluous topics?

I was rereading the topic and noticed this:

Legality != morality. Do what you feel is right, and if the law conflicts with it, the law is wrong.

Though I don't entirely disagree with the statement as a very vague concept, in actual practice, holy shit is that a slippery slope.

[presicion25]

i dont lose any sleep over what i download

Me either

[aaron]

the part about musicians on the last page really struck a chord (pun intended) with me. every band i've ever been in, or, well, pretty much ever really liked, has put out their own records, made their own merch, sold it themselves, or created some sort of distribution channel to get these things to fans throughout the country and cutting out a middleman. it's really inspiring and i feel like this is what the crux of my work ethic is made of, which is kinda what makes me support piracy the most.

i don't think this made any sense at all. i just reread it and my head hurts. it's 5 in the morning, i just got off work and nyquil is kicking in to battle my oncoming cold. please disregard.

tl;dr D.I.Y. OR DIE

[thelolotov]

I'm not too clear on the legality of ROMs in general as it seems some say they're always illegal, while others say it's okay if you own a physical copy of the game, so if someone could clear that up then that would be great, and possibly answer my question before I've even asked it, but anyway...
If I own a game compilation, or own a game on the Virtual Console or XBLA, is it legal for me to download and play a ROM of each individual game? For the most part it seems compilations just contain a ROM and emulator on the disc so it would make sense in that way, though how can you be sure that it's not actually a port?
I'm only asking because I plan on making a small computer one of these days to hook up to my TV with all of my retro games on it and I'm not sure whether it's okay for me to include stuff from the Mega Man Anniversary Collection, or all the games I've downloaded on my Wii.
Maybe to you guys this kind of stuff is irrelevant but I, as an upstanding Canadian citizen, like to purchase my games. And that sounded mean and I'm sorry.

Legal? Probably not. Ethical? I think so, you paid for the game.

[Nullface]

It's out of print. You can't buy it in stores; Nintendo doesn't get money from Ebay sellers that sell Mario Bros. 3. Either you give that random guy money or you just download it for free. Either way the original company that produced it gets NOTHING from it. Therefore it shouldn't be called "illegal" because you don't give John Doe from Kansas City, Kansas $5. I don't think anyone has been sued over them anyways.

[noiseredux]

It's out of print. You can't buy it in stores; Nintendo doesn't get money from Ebay sellers that sell Mario Bros. 3.

but they make money if you buy Super Mario Bros. 3 from the Virtual Console.