The line of piracy in gaming
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We all know downloading the newest release movie is illegal and considered stealing... but where do we draw the line with piracy?
Downloading torrent files of games, movies, books, and music has become a commonality in society today. We all have that crazy pirate friend who takes it to the next level when it comes to hacking their devices and copying stuff illegally... but this brings up a great question that I have.... Where can we draw the line of piracy. I want to talk specifically about gaming because I have (I am not excited to admit) downloaded torrents of games before. I believe there are special case scenarios where copyright becomes less immoral and evolves into something that keeps games alive.
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pi·ra·cy
[ˈpīrəsē]
NOUN
the practice of attacking and robbing ships at sea.
synonyms: robbery at sea · freebooting · buccaneering
a practice similar to piracy but in other contexts, especially hijacking.
"air piracy"
the unauthorized use or reproduction of another's work.
Emulation.
To put it simple, an emulator basically allows you to play video games on your computer or mobile device. We now have emulators for just about every system ever made. These can range from the consoles and retro games all the way to portable systems and modern games. I must agree that it takes away from developers when we download their games. They do not make money from the transactions therefore we have just stolen the game from them if we download it and share it. We can all agree on that and the laws behind that.
Let us talk about a special case scenario where copyright might not be morally wrong. Gaming goes through licencing just like music or movies. Therefore they have a contract that lasts over a certain amount of time of which puts them on shelves and in stores. This is how the industry worked especially before we went all digital. Brick and mortar stores were the only places you could buy a Sega Genesis game. Once that license is up the game is taken off store shelves and if the developers arent selling it elsewhere, the game begins to disappear. The only places you might find these types of games are in a lucky scenerio or spending thousands on ebay buying as a collector. Who makes the money from this transaction? The company that developed it? No. Anyone who worked on the project? No. A 3rd party. Yes. So therefore if you download the game, you would be stealing the potential money from a 3rd party seller who came across the game somehow.
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The line.
As a collector of games I certainly buy a ton of retro games. I also run a retro gaming business for collectors. So this hurts my business directly....or does it? Some of the games I have purchased many times in my life over and over due to losing them are games that I now have on my tablet that I play with an emulator. Is it wrong to download a game that is worth thousands of dollars due to rarity if you are only in it to play the game and not a collector of the item. Many retro games are available for purchase on the online stores of new consoles and you certainly can still support the developers( and I certainly encourage this)...
If you are a collector you can purchase games from someone like me. If you are searching for a bit of nostalgia , and do not want to spend a couple grand doing it, are you wrong for downloading these games? In my personal opinion, I think no. What is your opinion? Let me know in the comments.
The only time piracy may be morally wrong is when you download something for free that you would have paid money for had it not been pirated. However, piracy should not be conflated with theft. It is copyright infringement. Not the same thing for a number of reasons.
I mainly agree with this. There are multiple arguments to make in support of piracy. For a multitude of reasons. For example... When it comes to gaming, some devs charge an arm and a leg for the game and sell millions of copies... along with making millions off DLC. So it is hard to feel bad for the greedy. That doesnt stop the concept of copyright infringement being immoral. Though another point to make is that you might not have been interested in that particular product had it not been offered for free. These are two points that can argue for piracy. Lets say the company went out of business and the production just doesnt exist anymore. This is where I certainly think it is moral to do so, especially in today's day and age.
I just hate it when numbers like in your chart above are quoted. It is always assumed that this is the number that game developers lost. However, not every one of those pirated copies would have translated into a purchase if piracy were impossible. It's hard to really make a guess at what the percentage would be but I'm willing to bet less than half.
I sell retro games and I'm doing just fine. I dont feel harmed in business by it. Theres maybe a slight of potential, but I think you're correct on this one.
A friend of mine was talking about "cultural poverty." This is where children are not able to be a part of the culture due to the inability of the parents to afford the normal everyday parts of being a child in the current society.
Her point was that when the original Star Trek series (for example) was being broadcast, they weren't expecting it to still be making money 50 years on! As such, downloading older movies/TV shows/games, etc isn't really stealing from the original authors so much because there was never an expectation that there would be any money flowing from it now.
Obviously a new movie in the past few years is a totally different thing entirely - and the authors have every right to be expecting to still be getting proceeds from it. Equally obvious (I hope) is when software is no longer supported, updated or available commercially from the authors - if it's impossible to pay them, you should be able to download and use the software without worrying about someone coming after you for infringement.
Unfortunately, since this is a moral gray area for many people, it's hard to see where the "fine line" should be. What constitutes "educational" use of something? When is the cultural value so great that it should supersede the copyright?
Mickey Mouse, from what I understand, is about to lose his copyright protection - unless the courts extend it again.
Personally, I don't see why you should have to pay for games that someone else has downloaded and is now providing - things which they did not create. Saying that, those sites also have bills to pay - and they are providing a service...
Anyway, those are my thoughts - sorry I was late to the discussion table.
D'oh! I missed the part where you are providing such games.
I do think you have a right to be able to make some sort of profit providing retro games for people. Just don't be greedy about it and think about people like myself who could not afford to pay much for even good games.
I was recently looking for a free online source of Colonization - though FreeCol works fairly well, so I'm okay there, to be honest - though I wish it had larger maps available and some of the customization options available that Colonization has.
FreeCiv, on the other hand, really sucks from my limited experience. My favorite remains Civ II, Test of Time, so that's the one I'd want to find.
Hope I didn't offend you on the pricing things - I only share from my perspective - a poor person who can't really afford extras like pricey games, no matter how great they are.
Oh no... you certainly dont offend me.. first off.... I am a free speech advocate...Just so you know , my platform is always open for any types of discussion.. So you cannot offend me with your speech. Second I actually agree with you hahaha Games at a certain point should not be considered copyright infringement if downloaded. It actually keeps the culture of gaming alive. I love that you put this. Very well put commend my friend.
WoW. I didn't expect that huge number of unmonetized value...
Yea it is out of control. So we definitely want to support the creators when it comes to new games. They are losing out(which is also subjective). What are your thoughts on retro games as presented in the article?
Hmm, it's very complicated bcs some devs just give their games or engines for free and some make "remasters" to make more money. Personally, I think devs likes you should earn from games bcs they made them ;)
That's mad, yet do we continue lol?
Yes. We continue. It is inevitable in my opinion.
Yes agreed