I've bought 3 DOS games on Ebay this year.

Yeah, I think Ebay is your best option.

3DRealms [most notably] have released some of their titles as freeware. I'm sure there are others - might be a good topic for a sticky...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_freeware_games

My best source is URL REMOVED
It have great deal of great games, and it's absolutely legal. 😀

Do NOT post any links to games/abandonware sites.

Sorry. 🙁 I knew, that warez is not legal, but not knows about abandoneware. Why? And names (not links) illegal too? [Went to read rules]
[Returns]
Where can I read this rules? 🙁

Many games on abandonware sites are still copyrighted, even though
the respective companies don't exist/didn't notice it yet/whatever.
Still it's not allowed to possess/download such games in many
countries as they DO bear a copyright.

Ok. I understand this. Sorry again.

yes, so long as a company has paid to copyright something it remains copyrighted for 60 years? even after the company has gone bankrupt due to the copyright already been paid for.

But this seems... silly? 2All: Is this true?

Smiling Spectre wrote:

But this seems... silly? 2All: Is this true?

Welcome to the gaming industry. Worse yet - game copyrights expire in the same amount of times as books and other IPs......100 years. 😒

Someone needs to rewrite the copyright laws, there needs to be a section addressing old dead games. How can 20 year old unsold unsupported games be illegal to copy? How is it stealing when there is no outlet to pay the developers?

It sucks, but thats the world we live in.

avatar_58 wrote:

Worse yet - game copyrights expire in the same amount of times as books and other IPs......100 years.

100 years?! 😳 [Go away to any country, that not respect US copyright.China. Or Russia.] [Stop, I am already in Russia! Relaxing... 😁 ]

The decision noted that, so long as a copyright term is finite, it is permissible under the Constitution. Thus, a copyright in the United States is protected by the full strength of the law until it expires, between 70 and 120 years after initial creation, giving the copyright owner the monopoly for the duration.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abandonware#United_States

So starting in the year 2084 you'll see some games becoming freeware. Be sure to eat your vitamins and maybe you'll see the day.

Another example of stupidity made law by humans.

Well for books and other such things it makes sense, it is the life of the author basically - unless the family renews.

However no one has yet made a special "Computer Software Copyright Law" document to cover all these bases. Should not a copyright be void if the company no longer exists? Should a sole entitiy (ie head developer) be able to hold copyright even if they publish a game with a big contender? Should a publisher be forced to resell a game every few years in collections or playable remake form before it is deemed freeware?

I think if enough people got together and made a big enough complaint, we could get the laws changed. All we need is a start and a few lawyers to write up a decent enough proposal. I can only imagine the backlash from companies like EAgames though.....

Unfortunately, it's always the money behind what's counting. 😈

The selection at http://www.cdaccess.com and http://www.softwarecheaper.com is really quite remarkable. Lots of fine old DOS games there.

Most of the games on CD Access are very overpriced for how old they are.

I've found that the best place to get them is Amazon.com marketplace. I just bought the full sized box edition of Lands of Lore 2 on there for $13 shipped in near mint condition with all of the extras, including the massive full color manual.

I also bought the updated 2CD version of The Longest Journey on there a few weeks ago for around $10 brand new.

All of my movies and most of my music collection come from Amazon marketplace. I probably would have spent at least 4 times as much money buying them all at the store or even directly from Amazon.