Copywrite Question

[Ashoka]

Okay - from the closed "CD Crack" thread, it's clear that it is not legal to crack the game to run on a laptop w/out the CD-ROM.

However, as I will be using CIV III on my laptop (and *only* on my laptop) largely while traveling, I do not want to take my original CIV III CD-ROM with me (I've had too many CD's crack due to the *delicate* handling of baggage people.)

Can I make a copy of the CD itself to then run the game? Or is there a copyright issue then as well?

Ashoka

 

[glory]

Yes, you can make a copy for your own uses. Note though, that it probably won't work unless you crack it first :-D because of the copy protection. Again, if you're determined you can easily find out how to do this. Good luck!

 

[Ashoka]

Well, it seem that I *would* have to crack the CD-ROM I made a generic copy of my CD, and it would not run.

There seems to be a hot debate about this now, and I do *not* want to get further into the quasi-legal realm.

I guess I'll just be very careful w/ the original CD-ROM, and hope if the worst happens a broken CD-ROM will be honored with a replacement.

Peace -

Ashoka

 

[damunzy]

Yes, you can make a copy for your own uses. Note though, that it probably won't work unless you crack it first :-D because of the copy protection. Again, if you're determined you can easily find out how to do this. Good luck!

So if you are allowed to legaly copy the software inorder to have a backup it seems weird that the company would make it so you are not allowed to make a backup by using software protection. And if they did then how could it be illegal to crack it if you have the purpose of leagally backing up your software?

 

[Armageddon]

It's perfectly legal to make a backup copy of software you own. However, there is nothing that says that the software company has to make it easy for you to do so, or any requirements that they help you overcome problems in doing so.

I am also unaware of any law which makes it illegal to use cracks on software that you yourself own. There are plenty of situations where you may well need to do this. The laptop one already discussed is probably the most obvious. CDs on laptops also burn the battery down quicker, so there's yet another reason.

That said, it's understandable why CivFanatics wants to stay out of it. The Copy Protection scheme used in Civ3 is SafeDisc2 (I believe), and you should be able to find a way to crack that generically if you can't find a civ3 specific patch.

Also, I was able to run the game without the CD, provided that I started with the CD in the drive. So, for laptop battery purposes, at least you can try that.