[fzeroracer]

>It is legal to rip ROMs for your own use

Incorrect. People say this all the time but no, it is not in fact legal. It's never been tested in court and Nintendo takes the explicit view that both it is illegal to rip your own roms and that said devices are illegal.

Now you and I can disagree with Nintendo, but Nintendo could sue someone for ripping their own roms. They won't however, because it would be an incredibly difficult case to prove. Don't mistake that for it being legal or illegal however.

[ruytlm]

>it is not in fact legal.

Without a test case, we cannot state with certainty whether it is legal or illegal - particularly as some jurisdictions have carve-outs from copyright for format shifting.

Nintendo could sue for someone ripping their own ROMs; what is unclear, and also would determine legality, is whether Nintendo would win.

[coldpie]

Do you have a source for that? I don't see how it can't be legal, no copyright is violated. Ripping DVDs is illegal, because the DMCA makes cracking encryption even for personal use illegal, but that doesn't apply to unencrypted ROMs.

[colejohnson66]

I wonder. What’s the difference between ripping the ROM of an IC versus just hooking the address and data pins of the IC into your computer and using some code to interface with the emulator?