The Mad Cumbrian's ZX Spectrum Web Site
ZX Spectrum Software Copyright Laws
This section is my attempt to explain the very grey area of Emulation Copyright Laws. This has been done to the best of my knowledge. If you find anything that is incorrect, please e-mail me (bottom of the page) and I will rectify it.
First of all, I'd like to put down a few words regarding the legality of this web site. According to my never ending research, it is generally accepted that it is legally OK to utilise Copyright material, provided it is for non-commercial, non profit making use.
This Web Site was developed as a small project, based on happy memories from my childhood. Its purpose is for entertainment only. It is a non-commercial web site in the legal sense of the word. As for profit making, as if!!
I have not designed this web site with the pre-meditated intention of p*ssing anyone off. Please bear in mind that I am no law expert. I've tried my best to keep within the law, and 'netiquette' as far as I understand it to be true. In light of what other numerous web sites have with regards to Copyright, I decided to comply with the beliefs of these as far as the law, in particular Copyright law, is concerned.
Although all effort has been made to ensure the legality of ALL aspects of this web site, please accept my unconditional apologies if I've cocked anything up. Please email me (bottom of page) if you own the Copyright to anything on this web site, and I'll remove it straight away - if you so desire.
Please bear in mind though that the implementation of this web site has taken me bloody ages to accomplish (and it's all my own work too - right proud I am!!). I would be eternally grateful if you would give me permission to continue using your material. I'll provide you with a link to your web site, say what a kind hearted person you are, or anything else really (obviously within reason..........).
This web site is based on "retrogaming - emulating arcade machines and later consoles and other gaming machines" World Of Spectrum, March 2001. Amstrad, the current owners of the ZX Spectrum, have formally gave their permission for the emulation of all ZX Spectrum machines ranging from the 48k to the 128k +3.
However, this does not guarantee an automatic assumption that the Copyright and the distribution of the software has also been legally permitted by the Copyright holders. In fact, formal permission to distribute Copyright software is still very scarce.
Those (now including myself) who are active in seeking the permission of Copyright holders to freely distribute their software, on the whole, have received favourable responses (of which i am yet to receive any). This makes sense as retrogaming advantages far outweigh the disadvantages e.g. keeping the ZX Spectrum memory alive, free advertising for the authors/software houses, proof of quality of product etc. And really, there's no serious money to be made from them.
Also, I personally would be more inclined to buy a game for one of today's consoles if I had the opportunity to reminisce it in its Speccy format. However, due to the age of the software, and the collapse of many Spectrum software houses, to name a few reasons, locating the Copyright holders has proved to be a difficult task. An up to date list of permissions can be found on the World Of Spectrum web site.
The My Games section has been developed based on the information provided by the World Of Spectrum permissions list. Unknown to me until recently, you must gain PERSONAL permission from the Copyright holder to distribute their software legally from your personal web site. I am currently working on this.In respect of the Copyright owners request, I did not originally not put several games on to this web site. I own the original copies of all the games here. And yes, I do want them in PC format for my own personal backup purposes (I really do not want to loose my ZX Spectrum games forever due to natural tape degradation). "The fair use policy allows one to convert the software he bought to run on the emulator, in private" World Of Spectrum March 2001.
Listed below are the standard misconceptions with regards to the ZX Spectrum software Copyright laws:
- People only download images of games they bought the original version of - Rubbish! Believe that, and you'll believe anything. However, I have been informed that there is no strict legal Copyright requirement to do this. Will there ever be a formal, correct decision on this I wonder ?
- Almost all ZX Spectrum software was put in to the public domain anyway - we wish. Again, I have heard evidence to the contrary. What about these 'Spectrum Classix' CD's places like HMV sell ? If the games were not in the public domain.......... . Unless there is some sort of special agreement setup between Copyright holder and CD distributor ? Can someone clarify this for me please ?
- Copyright does not apply to non-USA countries - Can't believe anyone would fall for that one.
- 24 hour licences and abandonware rules - Funny!
