How to Copy Video Games
Is it legal to copy Wii games? I spent at least a couple of weeks researching this question. You see, I had learned how to copy wii games about 6 months ago, and had burned copies of most of my collection. But I didn’t want to get hauled out into the street and shot for it. So I started asking this question.
What I discovered is that it’s 115% legal to copy video games. However, that is only the case depending on what your purpose is for copying them. Read on for an explanation.
The question of the legality of making copies of digital media has haunted the industry ever since digital media was invented in the late 1980s. However, in the USA at least, the Library of Congress answered the legality question in 2010. They stated, citing the fair use clause, that it is legal to do anything that you want with a game that you have purchased, as long as you don’t sell or give away copies.
And, as a matter of fact, they went further. They stated that this same decision applies to movies, software, music, and operating systems as well. I, for one, would suggest that anyone who buys digital media on CD or DVD makes a backup copy as soon as they get home with the original. That way, no matter what happens to the original, you’ve still got a copy of the media that you paid your hard earned dollars for.
You cannot be arrested, fined, imprisoned, tortured, or executed for learning how to copy wii games. The feds can’t even make funny faces at you. So most consumer rights advocates are urging people to backup all digital media that they own, including games, and to utilize the copies for daily use – putting the originals up for safe keeping.
Let’s address the 800 pound gorilla in the room though, before we end. Anyone who’s ever tried to copy a game knows that it’s not as simple as it sounds. You have to get past the heavy encryption that is put on the discs.
Of course, the companies that manufacture video games can’t legally prevent you from copying games. They can’t come and beat you up if you find a way around the DRM. However, they CAN make it as difficult as humanly possible for you to copy your games. They hope that they’ll make it so hard that most people will just give up.
It’s just as much within your rights, as a consumer, to remove the encryption on these games as it is for the manufacturers to put the encryption on them. Luckily, there are a couple of great software companies that have invented 1 click software to remove the encryption. With a second click, they’ll also go ahead and burn them for you.
Just google “how to copy wii games” and you should find what you’re looking for!
The author spent the best years of his life in Japan, in the 90s, studying how to copy wii games. Now, he’s teaching others how to copy wii games on his blog.. This article, How to Copy Video Games has free reprint rights.
