Hey GoG archive.org has now Monkey island 2 for free....... and they say its legal?


Can it be i mean you are selling that game.

Different games. GOG is selling the Special Edition, archive.org has the old one.

But is has the same Code Base.

Does it? The 1990 game is a Dos based one, the 2010 is a Windows based one. So the code is not the same.
Different editions of a game can have different licenses.

Not legal I don't think, since the original isn't freeware. But maybe good for archival purposes.

First: the one on archive.org is very unlikely to be legal.

Second: No, it doesn't have the same codebase. The special edition was remade more or less from the ground up - the "classic" mode in the background was essentially remade based on the assets from the original game.

From what I recall, archive.org is licensed as a museum, so while a piece of software may not be licensed for distribution by anyone, a museum could be distributing it. So it is still possible to be legal for archive.org to be distributing said game.
Edit: Unsure if museum or library.

IIRC, archive.org is classified as a library and has some kind of legal exemption from the DMCA for archiving and hosting old software, which is why you have full rom sets and software on there.

EDIT: The intention is that it's suppose to be downloaded and used under the pretenses of "research", but I doubt anyone is going to send a squad to your house to check your academic progress.

Shit

This thread isn't at all what I thought it was going to be!

Digital library.

Also, the DMCA exception that has been granted by the government doesn't make them immune to takedowns, as demonstrated 2-3 years ago with the removal of various sold-on-GOG games and last year with the removal of Nintendo Power's magazines.

The "classic" mode of SE is the true classic original one.
You can extract it and run it with ScummVM.

The DMCA exemption is for circumventing protection methods, not for distribution of software.

Almost certainly not a legal download. Or at least not a legal upload.

The same uploader seems to have also uploaded Toonstruck, Torin's Passage and other old P&C games, I can't believe those are all legal as all of them are being sold at the moment.

The only way I can see those being somewhat legal is if they come from some collection which has unclear or ambiguous wording about the terms of use. Are you sure about this?
I know that's how Double Fine remakes were made, but I seem to recall a story that Monkey Island special editions are, in fact, based on the old code and there's a special wrapper which interprets the old code to newer additions, such as graphics and sounds.

Then again I really have no absolute knowledge about this, but there's certainly at least a convincing rumor about those SE's being based on the old code.

archive.org has a special status but they stretch it quite a bit. Almost certainly beyond what it's good for. I don't remember exactly but I think their legal theory went something like the software is their collection/exhibit that you can check out but it remains theirs and doesn't become yours when you do. And since no ownership changes hands, they're not improperly distributing it.

Yeah, I don't think it really works like that. But they haven't gotten much trouble over it for some reason.

Right you are. That sounds even less promising, legally-speaking.