Skip to main content

U.S. Copyright Office considering exemption for abandoned online games

The U.S. Copyright Office is considering a rule change that would loosen the restrictions governing emulations and reproductions of abandoned online games.

The argument is based on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1996, which is a law meant to curtail the theft and piracy of intellectual properties such as video games and other software. Currently, the U.S. Copyright Office grants an exception to various museums, archives, and libraries regarding abandoned games that are no longer publicly available. New exemptions to the DMCA are considered every three years by the U.S. Copyright Office.

Last year, several organizations, including the non-profit Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment, filed a request that the U.S. Copyright Office broaden its exceptions to include online games that have been shut down by their publishers. These would include MMORPGs such as Star Wars Galaxies and City of Heroes. Both of those game still have passionate fanbases, but they are no longer playable due to the fact that the servers shut down several years ago.

The Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment is requesting that exemptions be extended to online games.

“Although the Current Exemption does not cover it, preservation of online video games is now critical,” the Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment wrote. “Online games have become ubiquitous and are only growing in popularity. For example, an estimated fifty-three percent of gamers play multiplayer games at least once a week, and spend, on average, six hours a week playing with others online.”

Arguments regarding this exemption expansion were made during the previous review period, but the Copyright Office argued that many multiplayer games survived via local multiplayer. However, the vast majority of MMO games require a connection to a server and were never built with any form of local multiplayer in mind.

For these reasons, the Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment is asking the U.S. Copyright Office to allow archivists to operate servers for these abandoned games so that players may experience them as the developers intended.

The Entertainment Software Association, which represents major players in the video game industry such as Electronic Arts, Nintendo, and others, has come out in opposition to this request. The ESA argues that extending the DMCA exemptions to online games would be a step too far.

“The proponents characterize these as ‘slight modifications’ to the existing exemption,” the ESA wrote. “However they are nothing of the sort. The proponents request permission to engage in forms of circumvention that will enable the complete recreation of a hosted video game-service environment and make the video game available for play by a public audience.”

The ESA further argues that allowing the hosting of servers would allow gamers to fully play these games for free, which could be seen as a form of competition with their existing titles. The ESA notes that the Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment charges an admission fee, which it argues amounts to a commercial enterprise, even if the Museum is a non-profit.

The U.S. Copyright Office has yet to make a decision but will review all relevant comments before doing so.

Editors' Recommendations

Eric Brackett
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Xbox Game Pass adds one of 2022’s best racing games this month
A man leans against a car in Need for Speed Unbound.

Microsoft has revealed that games that will be coming to Xbox Game Pass throughout the rest of June and even into early July. While the list lacks any major exclusives or first-party games, a solid racing game from 2022 and some intriguing indies make it an interesting batch. Thankfully, the losses the service will suffer at the end of the month aren't too bad either.
The most notable game to hit Xbox Game Pass Ultimate during the back half of June will be Need for Speed Unbound. Coming to the service via its EA Play connection, this is a solid racing game that I gave a three-and-a-half-star review last year. At the time, I said it was "a surprisingly entertaining racer in a year that hasn’t seen much racing game excitement since Gran Turismo 7." On the indie side of things, The Bookwalker: Thief of Tales will be a day one Xbox Game Pass release on June 22. It's an isometric adventure game where the main gimmick is that players can enter the worlds of books they come across.
Former PlayStation console exclusive F.I.S.T.: Forged in Shadow Torch will also come to Xbox Series X/S via Xbox Game Pass on June 27. This is the full list of titles you can expect to come to the subscription service between today and July 5.

Need for Speed Unbound -- June 22
The Bookwalker: Thief of Tales -- June 22
Bramble: The Mountain King -- June 27
F.I.S.T.: Forged in Shadow Torch -- June 27
Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town -- June 29
Arcade Paradise -- July 3
Sword and Fairy: Together Forever -- July 5

Read more
Everything announced at Xbox Games Showcase Extended 2023
A Xaurips from Avowed.

Xbox came off one of its best showcases of all time by holding another that got even more detailed about the games that were announced. Xbox Games Showcase Extended 2023 was a slower-paced show that went a lot deeper into some of the games present at the June 11 event. It's featured Xbox Game Showcase titles like Avowed, Microsoft Flight Simulator - Dune Expansion, Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2, The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom, Towerborne, and Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty.

There were some reveals that were exclusive to this show as well, like DLC for High on Life, an update for Hi-Fi Rush, and some new indie games. It was a surprisingly packed show for being a secondary event. For those who want to know everything that was revealed, we've rounded up every announcement made at Xbox Games Showcase Extended 2023 right here.
High on Life DLC High on Knife revealed
HIGH ON KNIFE DLC TEASER TRAILER

Read more
Every online game should take note of Diablo 4’s seamless multiplayer
Still from Diablo 4 cinematic.

Diablo 4 is a dangerous game ... and I mean this in the best way possible.

My level 46 Barbarian hasn’t quite reached the endgame yet, but that hasn't stopped him from running tens of dungeon crawls with friends worldwide, many of whom I haven't spoken to since grade school. The problem isn't finding time to play together; it's getting us to stop long enough to do anything productive. That's thanks to an excellent, seamless multiplayer system that makes Diablo 4 a new gold standard for online games.

Read more