

So to get round this, they instead send out a list of changes to make. After all, they don’t own Harry Potter or whatever other novel they might be editing. Or at least, send a cease and desist order. However, distributing a bunch of copies with these changes already made would likely get them sued. Now let’s say someone else wanted to make their own remake or sequel. In other words, imagine buying a book from a shop. It’s a series of differences between the original work and the edit. What’s a patch? Well think of it like this: Instead, they’re released in the form of patches. At least, outside of the few examples where creators got cocky anyway. The patch system.īasically, ROM hacks are never distributed as ROM files. Well, it all comes down to one simple thing.

But how is this possible? How about ROM hacks being ignored while certain fan games are being taken down? What makes ROMs safer than fan games on a legal basis?
