I have a Nintendo Switch with some digital games installed on it. I want to extract, decrypt, mod and play the games on my PC using an open-source emulator, while still being able to play them on my Switch (when nobody is using my PC). This is not to publish/distribute the games (which I know is illegal), just for personal use.
1 Answer
There's a big difference between the two things
Physical media backups
These are legal. If you own, say, an NES cartridge of Super Mario Bros., then it is generally considered legal for you to download the software into a ROM and play it on an emulator elsewhere. The DMCA permits you to make backup copies of software (emphasis mine)
Copyright law permits you to make one copy of your computer software for the purpose of archiving the software in case it is damaged or lost. In order to make a copy, you must own a valid copy of the software and must destroy or transfer your backup copy if you ever decide to sell, transfer or give away your original valid copy. It is not legal to sell a backup copy of software unless you are selling it along with the original.
Nintendo Switch Online
The largest problem with making a copy of the NSO ROM is you don't own any physical media. And per the Nintendo Account Terms of Service
Subject to the terms of this Agreement, Nintendo grants you a non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to use the Nintendo Account Services solely for your personal and non commercial use. You are not allowed to lease, rent, sublicense, publish, copy, modify, adapt, translate, reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble all or any portion of the Nintendo Account Services without Nintendo's written consent, or unless otherwise expressly permitted by applicable law.
And later
As part of the Nintendo Account Services, Nintendo or third parties may make certain digital content or items available to you ("Digital Items"). If you buy or acquire any Digital Items, you obtain a limited license (as set forth in Section 2) to use such Digital Items in connection with the Nintendo Account Services. Other than this limited license, you have no right or title in or to Digital Items.
In other words, you're paying Nintendo a subscription fee to access a copy of the game they will provide. If you stop paying, the license to play it goes away.
In general, it is not legal for you to copy software you have no direct ownership of.
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Soo.. If I buy cartridges for all my games, I can backup/emulate/mod my games, but not with the digital games on the sd card?– Irsu85Commented Aug 10, 2022 at 6:40
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And what if I don't pay for Nintendo Switch Online, but just for the games?– Irsu85Commented Aug 10, 2022 at 7:48
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If you have a game with physical media, you can generally back that up. Digital downloads are far more a grey area (I would still assume you can create a backup, but I don't think that's been tested in court), and anything tied to a service you pay for access is far less likely to stand up to scrutiny. Remember, also, Nintendo is an aggressive defender of their copyrights Commented Aug 10, 2022 at 12:47