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Abandonware is not a legal term. Aemon Send a noteboard - 10/09/2009 12:19:19 AM
It's every bit as illegal (I'm not sure how much that might be) to download "abandonware" as it is to download other stuff. You'll almost certainly never be prosecuted for anything old enough not to be making money for a company, but it's still technically illegal. ROM sites out there make up all sorts of justifications ("we only let you download games we actually own!" "you can only download these ROMs for 24 hours if you don't own the game yourself" ), but they're just trying to make people comfortable downloading from them. Personally, my guess is that downloading a ROM would hold up as legal in court if you could show that you own the physical copy, since I believe you're allowed to create backups for personal use, but I don't really know.

It's pretty clear that downloading a game you don't own, though, is illegal. It's just rarely enforced for anything old.
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Is there Super Mario Brothers for the computer? - 08/09/2009 07:57:12 AM 845 Views
I'll help next time you're on MSN *NM* - 08/09/2009 08:26:37 AM 279 Views
VNES to the rescue - 08/09/2009 06:20:08 PM 707 Views
Or any of a dozen other sites showing up on the first google results page. *NM* - 08/09/2009 07:17:34 PM 322 Views
blah - 08/09/2009 08:36:46 PM 716 Views
This is very nice - 08/09/2009 07:59:08 PM 696 Views
You probably could with a downloadable emulator. - 08/09/2009 09:23:38 PM 644 Views
Thanks a lot - 08/09/2009 11:10:31 PM 641 Views
Emulators are legal (at least in the US, so yeah, check with Ben); ROMs are not. - 09/09/2009 01:15:15 AM 628 Views
True, but the distinction is only a matter of semantics. - 09/09/2009 01:53:09 AM 591 Views
That's true. *NM* - 09/09/2009 03:09:08 AM 285 Views
Some roms are considered abandonware. However I assume Mario Brothers is not. *NM* - 09/09/2009 09:30:00 PM 382 Views
Abandonware is not a legal term. - 10/09/2009 12:19:19 AM 575 Views
Indeed - 10/09/2009 12:28:30 AM 564 Views
True. Often the companies don't exist any longer or such. - 10/09/2009 07:33:25 AM 746 Views
If you want fan-made Mario, check out Mario Forever. - 14/09/2009 03:00:14 AM 666 Views
Also relevant: Mushroom Kingdom Fusion - 14/09/2009 03:04:43 AM 672 Views

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