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That is up for the copyright owner to enforce or not to enforce. Until they decide, we can't know if it's illegal or not - who knows, this site might have a li

That is up for the copyright owner to enforce or not to enforce. Until they decide, we can't know if it's illegal or not - who knows, this site might have a license.

KeplerBoy 4mo ago
It's not legal just because the copyright owner doesn't immediately sue you.
- simondotau 4mo ago
  If a copyright infringement falls in a forest and nobody is around to hear it, did it make a sound?
- account42 4mo ago
  Technically it isn't illegal until the copyright holder decides not to grant (retroactive) permission.
rvz 4mo ago
It's quite dangerous to make unsubstantiated comments and assumptions on US copyright law without the proper research. Valve still owns the copyright to the game and just because they won't do anything now does not mean it is legal to redistribute it without their consent, especially when we know that the game is still being sold. [0] They (Valve) reserve the right to enforce that and this site clearly does not have such a "license" and haven't disclosed as such. Why would you expect Valve to be in discussions with a 15 year old to redistribute the game for free? So just say you do not know. [0] https://store.steampowered.com/app/220/HalfLife_2/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/220/HalfLife_2/
- Ukv 4mo ago
  > just because they won't do anything now does not mean it is legal to redistribute it without their consent I don't think the parent comment is claiming it's legal, other than the (unlikely) chance that this is licensed, just that it's up to Valve to enforce and not really our concern. A lot of cool things (like the similar https://noclip.website/ https://noclip.website/) are prima facie copyright infringement.
  - nhinck2 4mo ago
    > we can't know if it's illegal or not I think we can.
    - xeyownt 4mo ago
      And I think we don't care.
    - Ukv 4mo ago
      We can guess this is unlicensed, and likely be right, but whether it gets taken down is up to Valve.
- account42 4mo ago
  > Why would you expect Valve to be in discussions with a 15 year old to redistribute the game for free? Because projects like this are free publicity and don't actually compete with the product sold on Steam.
Cthulhu_ 4mo ago
A crime is a crime even before a judge rules over it. Sure, innocent until proven guilty, but most people know when they're doing something wrong and then don't do it. Of course, this is a lot more grey area for copyright violations etc because it's a civil matter.
- __alexs 4mo ago
  What happened to innocent until proven guilty?
  - zygentoma 4mo ago
    "Innocent until proven guilty" concerns whether someone did a crime, not whether something is a crime. An action can clearly be a crime, but it might be unclear if you did that action.
    - __alexs 4mo ago
      Only our legal institutions and the frameworks they create can decide if any specific act is a crime.
    - dctoedt 4mo ago
      > "Innocent until proven guilty" concerns whether someone did a crime See my upthread comment: "Innocent until proven guilty" is catchy but false.
- dctoedt 4mo ago
  > innocent until proven guilty Pithy but untrue. The verbose-but-correct statement is about procedural prerequisites: Government officials are forbidden to imprison or fine you until your guilt is proved, to an impartial and properly-instructed jury in a fair trial, beyond a reasonable doubt. (The Scots have the better formulation for criminal cases: Guilty, or not proved.) Illustration: OJ Simpson was found not guilty [sic] in his criminal trial. So he couldn't be imprisoned. But then a different jury found — under the lower, preponderance of the evidence standard — that Simpson did indeed murder his ex-wife and the other guy. The latter case was the civil action for wrongful death, brought by the survivors of his victims. The survivors won a $33.5M verdict. Simpson's assets were seized, and sold at a court-ordered auction, to pay the judgment — including his Heisman Trophy.

That is up for the copyright owner to enforce or not to enforce. Until they decide, we can't know if it's illegal or not - who knows, this site might have a license.

KeplerBoy 4mo ago

It's not legal just because the copyright owner doesn't immediately sue you.

simondotau 4mo ago
If a copyright infringement falls in a forest and nobody is around to hear it, did it make a sound?
account42 4mo ago
Technically it isn't illegal until the copyright holder decides not to grant (retroactive) permission.

rvz 4mo ago

It's quite dangerous to make unsubstantiated comments and assumptions on US copyright law without the proper research. Valve still owns the copyright to the game and just because they won't do anything now does not mean it is legal to redistribute it without their consent, especially when we know that the game is still being sold. [0] They (Valve) reserve the right to enforce that and this site clearly does not have such a "license" and haven't disclosed as such. Why would you expect Valve to be in discussions with a 15 year old to redistribute the game for free? So just say you do not know. [0] https://store.steampowered.com/app/220/HalfLife_2/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/220/HalfLife_2/

Ukv 4mo ago
> just because they won't do anything now does not mean it is legal to redistribute it without their consent I don't think the parent comment is claiming it's legal, other than the (unlikely) chance that this is licensed, just that it's up to Valve to enforce and not really our concern. A lot of cool things (like the similar https://noclip.website/ https://noclip.website/) are prima facie copyright infringement.
- nhinck2 4mo ago
  > we can't know if it's illegal or not I think we can.
  - xeyownt 4mo ago
    And I think we don't care.
  - Ukv 4mo ago
    We can guess this is unlicensed, and likely be right, but whether it gets taken down is up to Valve.
account42 4mo ago
> Why would you expect Valve to be in discussions with a 15 year old to redistribute the game for free? Because projects like this are free publicity and don't actually compete with the product sold on Steam.

Cthulhu_ 4mo ago

A crime is a crime even before a judge rules over it. Sure, innocent until proven guilty, but most people know when they're doing something wrong and then don't do it. Of course, this is a lot more grey area for copyright violations etc because it's a civil matter.

__alexs 4mo ago
What happened to innocent until proven guilty?
- zygentoma 4mo ago
  "Innocent until proven guilty" concerns whether someone did a crime, not whether something is a crime. An action can clearly be a crime, but it might be unclear if you did that action.
  - __alexs 4mo ago
    Only our legal institutions and the frameworks they create can decide if any specific act is a crime.
  - dctoedt 4mo ago
    > "Innocent until proven guilty" concerns whether someone did a crime See my upthread comment: "Innocent until proven guilty" is catchy but false.
dctoedt 4mo ago
> innocent until proven guilty Pithy but untrue. The verbose-but-correct statement is about procedural prerequisites: Government officials are forbidden to imprison or fine you until your guilt is proved, to an impartial and properly-instructed jury in a fair trial, beyond a reasonable doubt. (The Scots have the better formulation for criminal cases: Guilty, or not proved.) Illustration: OJ Simpson was found not guilty [sic] in his criminal trial. So he couldn't be imprisoned. But then a different jury found — under the lower, preponderance of the evidence standard — that Simpson did indeed murder his ex-wife and the other guy. The latter case was the civil action for wrongful death, brought by the survivors of his victims. The survivors won a $33.5M verdict. Simpson's assets were seized, and sold at a court-ordered auction, to pay the judgment — including his Heisman Trophy.