What is Abandonware? Is it Legal?

Websites that offer paid software for free are often questionable in terms of legality. Regardless of how you feel about torrent and warez sites that offer paid software and media, they are illegal in most countries.

What about abandonware sites? These sites offer free games to download and have been around for years, which begs the question: Is abandonware legal?

What is abandonware?

The term 'abandonware' refers to software that is no longer actively supported or copyrighted. Software often becomes abandonware because the company that owned the copyright to the software has gone out of business or been sold to a new owner who has no interest in continuing development, and there are many websites where you can download these games for free.

However, some software becomes abandonware through official announcement or collaboration with the software's developers. For example, the source code for the video game Descent was released by the game's developers in 1997. Many other games have similar treatment.

Is abandonware legal?

So, is abandonware legal to download?

The simple answer is no; abandonware is not legal. Even if a creator abandons a copyrighted work, it does not automatically become public domain. Copyright in a work lasts until it expires, which varies by country. Typically, copyright in video games lasts for at least 70 years and up to 125 years.

So how do sites like Abandonia and Abandonware DOS stay in business? Surely there's a constant stream of lawsuits coming their way, right? Like most laws, punishment only comes if you get caught, and the injured party is willing and able to press charges. This is why, while abandonware is illegal, it's a bit of a gray area.

Most of the content on abandonware sites no longer has a copyright owner to actively enforce, so there is no one to sue. In other cases, the owner still exists but does not enforce the existing copyright. Sid Meier's Civilization 1 is a great example of this. There may be a copyright holder for this classic title, but since it is available on every abandonware site and is often one of the most popular downloads, it is considered safe to download and play.

Fallout is another example of this gray area. For years, you couldn't buy the original Fallout anywhere, so many people considered it abandonware. Then Bethesda bought back the rights to the Fallout series and made it clear that they would be enforcing their copyright on older titles — and thus, Fallout is no longer considered abandonware.

Is abandonware safe?

There are a lot of abandonware websites, all offering very similar lists of old games for download. With so many sites out there, is it safe to download abandonware?

The answer lies in the site you're downloading from. Large abandonware sites like MyAbandonware and Abandonia are safe, serving thousands of users every day. They also host almost every abandonware title, so you don't have to go into the unknown depths of the internet to find a title on a shady site.

Micah Soto

Update 09 December 2024