Can I buy license for ROMs?
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Hi,
Neighbour wants to build arcade machine and hopefully sell it to a pub. He wants to know if he can put Retropie in. This, as well as ROMs. He has no idea where to purchase license. He's not thinking big, he just wants to protect his a**.
I'm trying to help him out but I've no knowledge of legal systems and I already got lost reading forums.
My questions are:
Can he legally sell an arcade machine built on Retropie? - I'm guessing NO ("Much of the software included in the RetroPie image have non-commercial licences. Because of this selling a pre-installed RetroPie image is not legal" https://retropie.org.uk/?s=roms+license)
Who does he contact to buy licence(s) for ROMs?
In this context, is there a pack of ROMs that he can use for free?
Anything important I missed - please help me out.
Cheers! -
@yasiu no
The software retropie uses is non commercial.
More importantly the roms/games rights are property of the developers/companies and subsidiaries of subsidiaries, locating who owns the rights to each game can be difficult and securing public rights may even be more so.
Tldr, putting a retropie on a commercial platform won't work. Tell your friend to pursue a different business venture.
If you read the documentation it will answer 99% of your questions: https://retropie.org.uk/docs/
Also if you want a solution to your problems read this first: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first
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@herb_fargus Just out of curiosity. If that person was to sell the arcade machine without RetroPie and then help the new owners install it and set it up, would that be ok (legal)?
My little contributions to the RetroPie project:
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@hiulit if people were only selling hardware that's fine since it has nothing to do with retropie but the vast majority are using retropie as added value which is not ok.
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@herb_fargus Thanks for the answer. I appreciate you explained why it's a no.
Wish there was a product that we could install in arcade machines so that people could hear all those MK2 "Fight!" and "Come here!" and the "Tadadam - Fatality!" sounds while emptying their pints. Lot more fun than karaoke ;P
Just imagine the effect! The surprise! "Whoa! I can now play all these games I used to play when I was a kid?"If anyone knows how to achieve that, you have my support!
Also, since Retropie and ROMs are not for commercial use, would there be any alternative options?
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@yasiu said in Can I buy license for ROMs?:
Also, since Retropie and ROMs are not for commercial use, would there be any alternative options?
your first issue is getting a proper arcade license for your premises. you’d need to talk to someone familiar with your local laws.
after that, i don’t know where you buy a licensed arcade copy of mortal kombat from. a console version wouldn’t have the same rights for performance, etc. maybe approach midway directly?
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I was in the business in the 90's, you have to buy the original PCB, but it IS possible to mount these in the cabinet of your choice and not the original (this process was known as 'kitting'), Virtually all PCB's had component RGB output with composite horizontal sync for video, so you would need an RGB to HDMI adapter unless you actually have an RGB CRT monitor. Most of boards could use a generic PSU known as a 'Peter Chou' named after the inventor of the most popular model. Make sure you have the right number and type of power rails on the supply you buy to match the board.
Make SURE you can get the wiring harness with the PCB too. There was a generic system known as JAMMA, so if the PCB is a JAMMA you can go ahead and get the wiring harness separately. You can find used arcade PCBs legal for coin-op use on ebay for $15-$400
Many used a separate audio board or standardized audio system for that particular manufacturer, so often daughter boards need to be bought for these too if they are not included.
Current listings for Motal Kombat PCBs on Ebay
Note from this listing that MK1 does indeed use a separate sound board, and it is rarely sold together, because the sellers know that they can get more selling them apart for people repairing whole machines.
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In Japan I saw arcade machines with hundreds of games on it...and I don't mean a bunch of crap, but big names like Street fighter. I wonder what the situation is about those.
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@BobHarris I don't have to go to Japan to see machines like that. My local county fair has at least half a dozen people selling arcade machines with hundreds of games. And when I look at the list, it's clearly everything from MAME 0.37.5 that they could get to work. They're not using Retropie (the hardware is PC based and the launcher looks like nothing I've seen), but they're clearly using MAME which is forbidden for commercial purposes. This happens anywhere someone feels like they're flying low enough under the radar to get away with it.
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@Lyle_JP Yes, but I don't expect these illegal practices in a public place in Tokyo..so I wondered if maybe some licensed cabinets with multiple old games exist.
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@BobHarris Some PCBs could support multiple romsets, and let's not forget NeoGeo. Like I mentioned before, the cabinet (besides the copyrighted artwork) was not a consideration at all for legality, only the PCB/ROMs. They are most likely MAME based hacks, but it IS possible.
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