10,625
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
;Early Cases:* [[Wikipedia:Apple_Computer,_Inc._v._Franklin_Computer_Corp.{{Main|Apple Computer, Inc. v. Franklin Computer Corp.]] (1983): The landmark of this case established a crucial precedent in copyright law regarding software compatibility. Apple sued Franklin for copyright infringement, claiming that Franklin's Apple II compatible computers copied portions of Apple's operating system code. The court ultimately ruled in favor of Apple, recognizing the copyrightability of certain elements of computer operating systems, but also clarifying the concept of '''fair use''', allowing compatible products to exist without infringing upon copyrighted material.* [[Wikipedia:Sony_Corp._of_America_v._Universal_City_Studios,_Inc.|Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc.]] (1984), also known as the Betamax case: This landmark case established the fair use doctrine for home recording of copyrighted material, allowing VCRs to be sold despite concerns from movie studios. ;Later Cases:*[[Wikipedia:Sega_v._Accolade|Sega v. Accolade]], Inc. (1991): This case addressed reverse engineering, where Accolade created compatible game cartridges for Sega Genesis consoles. The court ruled that copying the functional elements of a copyrighted work (like the system interface) did not constitute copyright infringement.*[[Wikipedia:Sony_Computer_Entertainment,_Inc._v._Connectix_Corp.|Connectix v. Nintendo Co., Ltd.]] (1997): Connectix created an emulator for Nintendo games, but unlike Bleem!, they avoided including copyrighted code. The court ruled in favor of Connectix, affirming the legality of emulators that do not contain copyrighted material. (This was a suit over alleged trademark violations and alleged copyright infringement due to Connectix making a temporary copy of the PlayStation BIOS)*[[Wikipedia:UltraHLE#Nintendo's_response_and_UltraHLE's_discontinuation|Nintendo's response to UltraHLE and it's discontinuation]] (1999)*[[Wikipedia:Bleem!#Sony_lawsuit|Bleem! v. Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc.]] (2000): [[Bleem!]] developed an emulator for PlayStation games, but Sony successfully sued them for copyright infringement due to Bleem! including copyrighted Sony code in their emulator.[https://www.theregister.com/1999/04/12/bleem_beats_sony/] (This was a rehash of trademark dispute) ;Recent Developments:*[https://dolphin-emu.org/blog/2023/07/20/what-happened-to-dolphin-on-steam/ Dolphin-Steam situation] (2023): The popular emulator Dolphin was briefly unavailable on the Steam digital platform due to potential copyright concerns. However, Valve clarified that it was not a DMCA takedown.*[https://old.reddit.com/r/emulation/comments/1b1mghd/twitter_nintendo_is_suing_the_creators_of_popular/ Nintendo of America Inc. v. Tropic Haze LLC](Yuzu emulator) (2024): Nintendo filed a lawsuit against the developers of the Yuzu Switch emulator, alleging copyright infringement which ended up with the sum of US$2,400,000.00 in favor of Nintendo, and Yuzu emulator official distribution and Yuzu support of Citra ceasing. See [[Yuzu#Lawsuit]] for more information. These cases highlight the complex legal landscape surrounding home video, software emulation and copyright. While software emulators themselves are generally legal, developers must be cautious about including copyrighted material, such as embedded, encrypted system keys or copyrighted code, within their software. This can lead to DMCA takedown notices and potential lawsuits. ;Avoiding:*[https://www.quora.com/How-did-Compaq-reverse-engineered-patented-IBM-code Compaq reverse engineered patented IBM BIOS code]*[[PlayStation 2 emulators#MagicGate|PCSX2 and MagicGate]]: The developers of the PlayStation 2 emulator PCSX2 demonstrate an approach to cautious development. They avoided potential copyright issues with MagicGate, an embedded encryption system in some PS2 memory cards, by not directly replicating it within the emulator. While workarounds exist, the PCSX2 team's stance highlights their commitment to reducing the potential for legal complications. To learn more about such cases, examples and challenges, see;*[[PlayStation 2 emulators#MagicGate]]*[[History of emulation#PlayStation]] (Bleem! and VGS cases)*[[History of emulation#Genesis]] (Sega v. Accolade case)*[https://youtu.be/-VqsU1VK3mU Technology Connections: Macrovision - The Copy Protection in VHS]*[https://cs.stanford.edu/people/eroberts/cs181/projects/1998-99/copyright-infringement/emulationlawsuits.html Stanford University: Emulation Lawsuits - Past and Present]*[https://reddit.com/r/EmuDev r/EmuDev]Legal_Status_of_Emulation}}
→Lawsuits
Copyright infringement and attempts to remove infringing content through the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) have been ongoing issues in the [[Home_Media_Player|home media and home video]] (especially VCR), [[Ripping_games|dumping tools]] (Lockpick_RCM taken down by Nintendo DMCA), [[Home_Media_Player#Media_player_software|media player softwares with optical discs encryption and copy protection techniques, codec situations]] (HD-DVD and Blu-Ray disc support etc.) and unofficial software emulation including peripherals such as [[Amiibo]], Skylanders Portal, LEGO Dimensions Toy Pad[https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/Wii_U_emulators#Hardware_features_and_peripherals][https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/PlayStation_3_emulators#Peripherals][https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/Wii_emulators#Hardware_features_and_peripherals] etc. (see [[Official emulators]] for official software emulators).
==References==
