US Copyright Office blocks attempt to preserve out-of-print games
The Copyright Office maintains that it is difficult to know who someone accessing a game will be and why they want it.
Getting your hands on old games is becoming increasingly difficult. You'll either have to hope you were smart as a younger self, collecting games properly and keeping them in good condition, or you'll be paying massively out of pocket for the few games left out there.
According to data from the Video Game History Foundation, 87% of games released in the US before 2010 remain out of print. That's just two console generations ago. If we go back even further, it can be virtually impossible to find and buy retro games.
The Video Game History Foundation wanted to make that a little easier, and went to court to try and allow for an exemption in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act which would allow games to be archived in libraries for preservation and wider use. However, the US Copyright Office decided against that idea, finding that it could cause damage to an important market.
The Video Game History Foundation has no intention of giving up its fight. Unfortunately, the game industry's absolutist position means that it will always protect its future endeavours rather than support its past. Considering more and more people are playing older games rather than hopping on new ones, it seems the future of gaming appears to be going backwards, not forwards.
