On The Console Emulator Development Of Copyright And Reasonable Application Of The Principle

By cutting-in from the "Fair Use" of copyright system, this article will analysis and find out the legal status of Reverse Engineer, which is used in the development of Game Emulator, and finally set out the legal status for the new-born Game Emulator, which has not been identified in the Chinese law system. It is well known that video game industry is a quite profitable industry. The outcome of this industry is 24.5 billion US dollars in 2004. Facing such profitable environment, the two video game console magnates, Nintendo and Sony began their marketing plan in China and start to sell their game consoles here. Besides the pirate of game software, the biggest problem the met in marketing is game emulator, software that allow users to play video games on PC without buying a game console. In order to protect the sales of their game console, they surely will take some legal actions to prevent the development of these game emulators. Whether the existence of game emulator is legal become a question for us to discuss.This article will make some legal analysis on the judgment of the leading case in US concerning this aspect by using the Fair Use doctrine, and reveal the underling considerations of social and economic factors, and then draw the conclusion that the reverse engineering taken during the development of game emulator is in comply with the laws, it is a positive factor for breaking the monopoly in the video game industry, and the game emulator is a legal product. This article will also give suggestion on the perfection of fair use doctrine of China.The main discussion is divided into five parts. In chapter 1, I will introduce the legal issue of reverse engineering taken during the development of game emulator. In chapter 2, I introduce certain concept and specific of fair use doctrine, discuss the origin and development of that doctrine, and discuss the theory basis from economic and legal aspects. In chapter 3, I will discuss the case of Sony v. Connectix, and give the explanation of how the fair use doctrine is applied in the issue of reverse engineering taken during the development of game emulator. In chapter 4, by combining the history of video game industry, I will analyze Sony's case from legal economic aspects, and then introduce the concept of Misuse of Right and fair use doctrine's restrictions on it. In chapter 5, through the discussion of legal practice in other countries, I will clarify the legal status of reverse engineering and give suggestions on the perfection of China's fair use doctrine and the harmony development between China's Copyright Law and Regulations for the Protection of Computer Software.