The Electronic Software Association, the video game industry’s trade association, has shot down a proposal to allow researchers remote access to archived video games. An ESA lawyer said there was no way the proposal could be modified to satisfy its members, fearing an exemption for academia would make a vast library of games available for “recreational play.”
The statements were made as part of a recent United States Library of Congress Copyright Office hearing over a proposed copyright exemption that would allow remote access to archived games specifically for academics, Game Developer reports. The exemption was initially proposed by the Software Preservation Network.
ESA lawyer Steve Englund shot down the proposal, also refusing potential modifications that would make the exemption more palatable to ESA members. Instead, he said there is currently no “combination of limitations [ESA members] would support to provide remote access.”