Are Console Emulators Legal?

[Aguiluz]

I have a complete PSone with a broken CD spindle, and a legal Spyro game. I have been using ePSXe and yes, I use legal games, I legally own a PSone and its BIOS and I have been using EPSXE for a while.

But are emulators legal in my case? I want to follow the law... You get the idea.

P.S: Darn! My save got corrupted!

[Nza]

I think in general they are legal, except for the BIOS, because that is a direct copy of something the system makers authored.

I'm not too sure if owning a system makes it ok to obtain the BIOS. Possession, perhaps, but the actual process of obtaining it i.e. from a website or ftp etc, maybe not. Depending on your country (I'd warrant a bet Canada is one of them) you may be able to make a copy of music and software you own but I'm not sure that extends to console BIOS's.

[casecutter]

Canada has some of the most lenient views of copyrights in the world. There is little done to offenders here and usually only if pressure is exerted from other countries (read US). If it's not legal, there is pretty much no consequence of getting it anyways, but always remember that groups like the RIAA are always looking for people to sue for stuff. Be careful where you download stuff since you are not nearly as anonymous as you think when online.

[Kheldar]

the emulator is legal - the OS/BIOS is not (which you need to use it)

[Aguiluz]

Oooh! After dissecting my PSone for the first time I found a microchip with wires soldered to different parts of the mobo. Its labeled "Stealth Chip" and it is wrapped in masking tape and stuck next to that big chip. I purchased this unit second hand from a used game store.

But anyway, I will stick with the EMU until I find a way to fix this. New CD spindle perhaps? Where can i buy one?