Is it okay for ROM hackers to accept donations?

Hey people,



My point: Would accepting donations arise the risk of your project getting a DMCA notice?

It's a good way to get Nintendo to shut down your game.

It will most likely get shut down, yes.

Since you're technically making a profit, or gaining money from the project. A project where you own none of the IP.
So, it's illegal, because you don't own any of it,

My views:

We use free tools to ROM Hack.
We use free ROMs to ROM Hack.
We don't create them for money but for learning new things.

Conclusion : You want some Cash? You ain't going to get.

KBM never uploaded and released the rom on his website, it was always just patch files.

As for making money, asking for donations is generally acceptable because you're not forcing people to pay for the project- it's an optional thing. People could send donations for whatever reason they want, it doesn't have to be linked back to the project. Continuing the relevant topic, Prism was not paywalled behind any sort of service that required you to pay for it. I'm also pretty positive- though I could be wrong- that KBM did not set up any sort of Patreon for Prism. If you want a fangame that did set up a Patreon, and sub-sequentially got blasted out of the sky, might I direct you to the Wayback Machine's Copy of Pokemon Uranium's Patreon account.

So, to bring this to a point: Is it okay for ROM Hackers to accept donations for their projects? So long as the donations aren't tied to the project itself, and the project isn't locked behind a paywall, there should be no issue. Is it morally acceptable? That's for your own conscious to decide.

Derxwna Kapsyla said:

KBM never uploaded and released the rom on his website, it was always just patch files.

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I got that false information from someone in the comments section on a YT video. Thanks for reminding me to clear that up, whew...

So Prism basically got a DMCA notice because of the trailer, right? (Off-topic)

So, to bring this to a point: Is it okay for ROM Hackers to accept donations for their projects? So long as the donations aren't tied to the project itself, and the project isn't locked behind a paywall, there should be no issue. Is it morally acceptable? That's for your own conscious to decide.

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I know, but I wouldn't really be sure after all what's happened lately...

Prism got a DMCA potentially because of the trailer. That's the running theory, and it makes sense- it was a professionally made trailer, and it had a release date announcement. Not to mention it was being released three days before Christmas, and the holidays are always a big unit mover when it comes to video games. It's possible that the DCMA was issued because of the timeframe.

And again, it's for the individual to decide whether it's morally acceptable to ask for donations or not. The only time monetization becomes a big issue is if you are forcing the player to either sit through adverts which generate revenue, or lock the game behind a paywall in general. But, that's just how I see it.

Making money of your hack or fan game definitely helps your chances of getting shut down. The "donations" profit model is not new at all. Nintendo can see through that easily.

Yes, as that counts as profit for an unauthorized game.