My brother told me that nes roms are now legal because the copyrights had expired. I didn't believe him, but now I'm hoping that he's right. Are NES roms legal? What about SNES?

http://www.snesorama.us/

The short answer is no, NES roms aren't legal. Here's what it says on Nintendo's website regarding ROMS: "Can I Download a Nintendo ROM from the Internet if I Already Own the Authentic Game? There is a good deal of misinformation on the Internet regarding the backup/archival copy exception. It is not a "second copy" rule and is often mistakenly cited for the proposition that if you have one lawful copy of a copyrighted work, you are entitled to have a second copy of the copyrighted work even if that second copy is an infringing copy. The backup/archival copy exception is a very narrow limitation relating to a copy being made by the rightful owner of an authentic game to ensure he or she has one in the event of damage or destruction of the authentic. Therefore, whether you have an authentic game or not, or whether you have possession of a Nintendo ROM for a limited amount of time, i.e. 24 hours, it is illegal to download and play a Nintendo ROM from the Internet." http://www.nintendo.com/corp/legal....