Dolphin, the GameCube and Wii emulator - Forums

[color=#0000CD]OK, well this may sound really really stupid, but before I download Dolphin, will it run a game directly from the disk, or do I need to download a ROM. It's just I have all the games I would like to emulate legally on disk so would rather not break the law downloading illegal ROMS. You may say, "well what's the point in emulating the game if you have the disk anyway", but this would be good for travel (playing on my laptop). Also, please don't try to tell me it's legal to download a ROM if you own a copy of the game anyway.[/color]

from http://www.nintendo.com/corp/legal.jsp

Quote: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.

Dolphin will not play them from the drive even if your drive is compatible with wii/gamecube games, If you have a compatible drive you can just rip them as an iso.
see this thread http://forums.dolphin-emu.org/thread-2900.html

and yes, even if you own the game downloading it is illegal.
http://forums.dolphin-emu.org/thread-11.html