I think you should realize the other point of view...
I once was a part of a project to make a sequel to Marble Madness. We thought we may possibly be able to sell it... so I called up Midway, whom at the time was owner of the IP.
Midway put me in touch with their a-hole IP guy, whom confirmed their ownership. Stated that Midway does not share IP, does not license IP. Said that if they were going to take a game in, they would re-program it themselves and sell it themselves.
That they would not be making a new MM, because it was considered a puzzle game, and that puzzle games do poorly. Poor selling games have to be sent back to them, and thus they acquire a huge loss.
So, even though they were never going to do anything with it, they would sit on the License, and let it ROT.
Ask them if they would want to Save the game by dumping the Arcade game roms? They will tell you No Way. Not because they will lose money, not because they would ever do anything with the rom... but because they just dont care.
They dont make any real money on old games, and there is no policy set up for preservation. Their only interest is making new games. And making the most money possible.
As for a games preservation... I think the time limit should be at least 5yrs, not 3. Its can take at least a year to cross the sea. At least one year for the Ops to make their money back with some profit. One yr to make a decent profit before things turn cold. And the game can still earn for a few yrs, even though at a seriously reduced income.
(I used to manage a mall Arcade for 3yrs)
Now, if it were my Company, I would send the team a notice to keep it from being emulated. But then again, I would also have a way from people to access that material for a fair price. And possibly when it was over 30yrs old, released as public domain. (info kept, dumped ahead of time)
If Companies were responsible, cared about their works, had a preservation system... then none of this argument would be necessary. However, the people who run the companies are money men. They have no creativity. They have no real interest in things created. They only care about money.
The people who created the games may be passionate.. but even they often have no say or way to preserve their creations. Only through Illegal theft of company property, have many of these creators been able to preserve things that were scheduled to be dumped into the trash.
Legality isnt always moral and just.
And the issue of IP isnt as black and white as you may believe it to be.