Video game preservationists have lost a legal fight to study games remotely

Collage by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos from Getty Images

When video game scholars want to study games that are no longer on sale, they sometimes have to drive many hours to do it legally - and that won't be changing anytime soon. The US Copyright Office has just denied a request from video game preservationists to let libraries, archives and museums temporarily lend individuals some virtual, remotely accessible copies of those works.

Kendra Albert, who made the argument on behalf of the Software Preservation Network and the Library Copyright Alliance, says preservationists weren't asking for a lot: It was the thing that basically exists for all kinds of special collections in libraries: the library reviews the request, makes sure it's not harmful, and allows access to the work."

While the...

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