Is it Illegal to Use Assets from Another Game for Research Purposes?

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European Union about reverse engineering. The act ins’t illegal, its illegal, reproduction, translation, transformatión, and public release.

Article 6 of the 1991 EU Computer Programs Directive governs reverse engineering in the European Union. It states that in general, “unauthorised reproduction, translation, adaptation or transformation” is unlawful. A similar exemption exists for reverse engineering as in the U.S., when is performed for interoperability purposes, but the law prohibits use of the knowledge gained, in a way that prejudices the rightsholder’s position or legitimate interests (for example, reverse engineering performed to create a competing product). It also prohibits the public release of information obtained through reverse engineering of software.[31][32][33]

In 2009, the EU Computer Program Directive was superseded and the directive now states:[34]

(15) The unauthorised reproduction, translation, adaptation or transformation of the form of the code in which a copy of a computer program has been made available constitutes an infringement of the exclusive rights of the author. Nevertheless, circumstances may exist when such a reproduction of the code and translation of its form are indispensable to obtain the necessary infor­mation to achieve the interoperability of an indepen­dently created program with other programs. It has therefore to be considered that, in these limited circum­stances only, performance of the acts of reproduction and translation by or on behalf of a person having a right to use a copy of the program is legitimate and compatible with fair practice and must therefore be deemed not to require the authorisation of the right­holder. An objective of  exception is to make it possible to connect all components of a computer system, including those of different manufacturers, so that they can work together. Such an exception to the author's exclusive rights may not be used in a way which prejudices the legitimate interests of the rightholder or which conflicts with a normal exploitation of the program.