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Posted by PTravel on 02/06/07 19:42
"Colin B" <Colin B@cb.org> wrote in message news:45c83859$1@clear.net.nz...
>
> "PTravel" <ptravel@travelersvideo.com> wrote in message
> news:52hno2F1mn8eaU1@mid.individual.net...
>>
>> "timepixdc" <timepixdc@aol.comx> wrote in message
>> news:timepixdc-5D7898.04175502022007@news.lga.highwinds-media.com...
>>> In article <52epkrF1ntf0sU1@mid.individual.net>,
>>> "PTravel" <ptravel@travelersvideo.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> >> Copying a DVD to a computer to watch on a plane is _probably_ fair
>>>> >> use .
>>>> >
>>>> > Not in the USA.
>>>>
>>>> Really, counselor? Why do you think that?
>>>
>>> Because in order to do it you'd have to defeat the DVD's encryption.
>>> That's a no-no.
>>
>> That's true for DVDs that have copy protection, but not for DVDs that do
>> not.
>>
>> However, with that said, the scope of the DMCA is not at all clear in
>> this regard: does the prohibition on circumventing copy protection
>> schemes apply to content which is (a) licensed to the person doing the
>> circumvention, and (b) circumvented for a legal, i.e. fair use, purpose?
>>
>> I'll give you a real-world example relevant to video production. Some
>> years ago, I purchased, direct from a software vendor an FX package that
>> had a copy protection scheme that required on-line validation based on
>> email address which, in turn, results in a validation key that gets
>> entered into the software. Over the years, as my computer systems
>> changed, I've had to re-install this FX package a number of times. The
>> last time I tried to do this, I couldn't recall the email address that I
>> used to originally register. I emailed and called the software vendor
>> multiple times, was promised that the records would be updated (I sent a
>> scan of the original disks, manuals, etc., as well as my name and
>> address, email addresses I've used over the years, etc.), but, after more
>> than a month, the update never took place and I still couldn't install
>> the software that I was licensed and authorized to use. Instead, I went
>> on-line and found a key-generator for the product and used that to
>> install it.
>>
>> By the plain language of the DMCA, I circumvented a technological
>> copy-protection scheme. Did I violate the law by doing so?
>>
>> The case law on this is mixed and not at all clear, but I'll say this: I
>> recently argued exactly this point in the context of defending a
>> copyright infringement suit on behalf of a client. The lawsuit settled
>> before the judge could rule on this question, but I'll put it like
>> this -- the other side wasn't exactly jumping up and done screaming that
>> Rule 11 (the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure that precludes frivolous
>> arguments).
>>
>> So, even with respect to copy-protected DVDs, I'm not prepared to say
>> that copying it to a computer for viewing, for example, on an airplane,
>> would constitute either infringement or a DMCA violation.
>
> So could the owner of a DVD make a back-up copy of his DVD on another DVD
> and view the second DVD on his computer's DVD player while on an airplane?
> In other words, does it matter what media the copy of the original DVD is
> made on? For example, the copy could be stored on the computer's hard
> drive, or it could be on a rewriteable disk or on a non-rewriteable disk,
> or it could be on an ipod or similar.
>
> Or asking the question more directly, can the owner of a copyrighted
> protected DVD make one legal back-up copy of this DVD on whatever media he
> chooses to do so?
There is no basis in copyright law for a "right" to make a back-up copy of a
DVD. Time-shifting and media-shifting are examples of fair use defenses to
infringement, but "backing up" is not.
>
>
>
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