this post was submitted on 17 Feb 2026
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It's conservation. Archeology is digging up what was once lost.
So finding a lost video game is archeology. Keeping it safe is conservation.
Ensuring games can't be lost in the first place and that they continue to work in the future is preservation.
All needed, but different things.
My hot take is all abandonware media should legally become file-share friendly after a certain amount of time being out of print, say 15 or 20 years. The original rights holder still maintains copyright, but if they are no longer publishing that work, and therefore no longer making sales, anyone can fileshare it for free in its original form. If the owner then republishes it, it stops being file share friendly. But there have to be caveats, like Nintendo can't publish 2 copies of an old game every 15 years for like $500 a copy and say it's still published. It has to be sold at a reasonable price.
Ok, truth, but I will still call it preventive archeology...
This reminds me of when a couple of lost Doctor Who episodes were found but the owner was nervous to share them with the BBC because he feared confiscation and/or prosecution. I don't know what happened with that story.