Why Are Emulators Legal? Dolphin vs. Nintendo, and the Fate of Emulation [Great Emu War Pt. 1]

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Try Brilliant free for a full 30 days by visiting: https://www.brilliant.org/MoonChannel The first 200 people get 20% off an annual premium subscription! --- Why Are Emulators Legal? Dolphin vs. Nintendo, and the Fate of Dolphin Emulator Everyone knows that emulators are legal... but why are they legal? Emulation is far more fragile than most people think, and its protected only by the thinnest veneer of law. Nintendo's recent takedown of Dolphin Emulator's release on Steam shows us that we cannot take the future of emulation for granted! Let's explore together, the history of emulation law, the Dolphin vs. Nintendo battle over Steam, and the fate of Dolphin emulator. In so doing, we will learn what is legal in emulation, what isn't legal, and what still has yet to be clarified. --- 10% of Moon Channel's Revenue goes to charity: including our sponsorship income! We are currently supporting Doctors Without Borders (MCF). You can learn more about Doctors Without Borders at https://www.msf.org/. -- Please also consider supporting Moon Channel on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/MoonChannelYT --- Chapters: 00:00 - Intro 01:14 - Sponsored By Brilliant.org 02:27 - A Tale of Two Companies and a Marine Mammal 04:33 - Intro to the Legality of Emulators 05:39 - Sony v. Connectix Corp., the Basis for Emulation Legality 09:19 - Sony v. Bleem, NOT the Basis for Emulation Legality 12:06 - TL;DR Legality of Emulation Summary 14:28 - Sega v. Accolade, Intro to 17 USC §1201(f) 15:55 - Dolphin Emulator Takedown Intro 18:21 - Analyzing Nintendo's Letter 30:22 - Valve's Role 35:16 - The Existential Threat of Emulation and the Big Red Litigation Button 37:35 - Soulja Boy Tangent 39:48 - Conclusion 41:08 - End Credits Gag, Silly Songs with Moony --- Track List: Intro - Dolphin Park, Wave Race 64 Sponsor - Wii Shop Channel, Smash Ultimate Tale of Two Companies - Grandma's Theme, The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker Legality of Emulators/Connectix - Beginning Overture, Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney Sony v. Connectix Corp. - Objection! 2001, Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney Sony v. Connectix Corp. - Testimony ~ Allegro 2001, Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney Sony v. Bleem - See, Above Emulation Summary - Pursuit ~ Cornered, Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney Sega v. Accolade - See, Above Dolphin Emulator Takedown Intro - Bubblaine, Super Mario Odyssey Nintendo's Letter - Dolphin Shoals, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Nintendo's Letter - The Trial, Chrono Trigger Valve's Role - Want You Gone, Portal 2 Valve's Role - Still Alive, Portal Big Red Button - Swing Doors, Fallout 3 Soulja Boy Tangent - Boogie Man, Fallout 3 Conclusion - Game Over, Ecco the Dolphin End Credits Gag - Moony sings a parody of "So Long and Thanks For All the Fish" from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Movie. --- Attributions: Mario Homerun Contest Footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZepKcyiPI0 Dolphin 5.0 Release Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS7Fl30JZcA Dolphin Comparison Footage New Super Mario Bros https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6Z9DeKQQc8 Steam Summer Sale Memes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJW_ML5aE9E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fA2yV2i04c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoGxA48HQ1g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUo1PgKksgw --- Additional Reading: No Scrubs, by TLC https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Scrubs 17 U.S.C. §1201 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/1201 Sony Computer Entertainment v. Connectix Corp., 203 F.3d 596 (9th Cir. 2000) https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-9th-circuit/1452245.html Sony Computer Entertainment America v. Bleem, 214 F.3d 1022 (9th Cir. 2000) https://casetext.com/case/sony-computer-entertainment-america-v-bleem The Nintendo Letter to Valve https://imgur.com/a/cLE6DPX The Verge's Article on Dolphin Emulator -- the best researched article on the subject I've read. They also published the Nintendo letters! https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/1/23745772/valve-nintendo-dolphin-emulator-steam-emails Use of a Game Over: Emulation and the Video Game Industry, A White Paper, Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1022&context=njtip