Rockboy

[C@^^P3R]

Ok, I was wondering, because I've done some research on this topic many times already... Oh, and I really don't care whether the mods don't like me talking about roms because I'm not asking where to get them because I know it's against the law to download them.

I read that you are able to download Gameboy advance roms legally if you OWN the game yourself.  Some places would normally say that you must delete the rom within 24 hours of downloading, but you shouldn't download them, period, unless you own them.

So, can anyone clarify this and maybe show me some proof in a document?

[lachlan]

The legality is irrelevant, as Rockboy can't play Gameboy Advance roms, only the orignal ones and the Colour ones.

[C@^^P3R]

woops already knew that, but I was just speaking of the GBA games because they do have free roms to download and they're legal, but in the sense of original gameboy roms, does owning the game mean that you are legally able to download the game off of the internet or not?

[Llorean]

In the United States the applicable laws explicitly state that you are legally entitled to CREATE a backup as far as I'm aware, though the Digital Millenium Copyright Act in some cases makes even that illegal these days, but the story that you're allowed to download a backup is mostly a myth propagated as an excuse to keep those sites up.

[AlexP]

It depends what country you are in.  As Llorean has said, in the US you can pretty much do nothing.  Here in the UK it is similar I believe.  However, even though the US seems to think they do, US laws do not apply outside the US, so you need to check the law in whatever country you are in.

[GodEater]

..and that would mean actually asking a lawyer - not some random group of people in an internet forum. If you're actually interested in a factual answer and not hearsay that is.

[C@^^P3R]

thank you for your help, I will try and figure things out asap.