Copyright rules?

[Falcon2004]

Hi

Long story short. I bought LOTR 2on DVD a few months ago and its aquired a huge scratch that makes it practicaly unwatchable. My friend also has the same DVD. Am I legaly allowed to borrow his version and copy it for myself assuming i retain my original?

Sorry if this is classes as "warez", if so, feel free to remove it.

Thanks
Falcon

[Howard]

Yes.

[Steve]

I don't know to be honest. As for the thread, I would imagine as long as no dodgy sites are linked to it'll be fine, though that comes down to the moderators assigned to this forum... ie not me.

[lynni]

Hi

Long story short. I bought LOTR 2on DVD a few months ago and its aquired a huge scratch that makes it practicaly unwatchable. My friend also has the same DVD. Am I legaly allowed to borrow his version and copy it for myself assuming i retain my original?

Sorry if this is classes as "warez", if so, feel free to remove it.

Thanks
Falcon

In a word.... NO!! ops:

[Howard]

Whyever not Lynni? He owns a copy, and you're allowed to have another copy for backup purposes..?

[Falcon2004]

Ahh don't you jsut love it when everyone gives different answers...lol

[Steve]

While I remember: Have you tried the toothpaste trick on the DVD?

[lynni]

Whyever not Lynni? He owns a copy, and you're allowed to have another copy for backup purposes..?

ive own copies of stuff before and never been allowed to copy it again.... my friends dad fixed tv set's he would never let me nor would my parents. thats how i gave my answer

[Falcon2004]

While I remember: Have you tried the toothpaste trick on the DVD?

No point, its more of a gouge tbh You can actualy feel it when you touch it...lol

[TiG]

Sorry but what does fixing TV sets have to do with this?. Only a lawyer could really answer this, and i bet you two different lawyers would say two different answers, I Think technically this is a grey area of the law where although it is probably illegal, given the nature of copying a single DVD that you already owned is probably certainly not going to stand up in court.

So yes probably in the strictest words of the law illegal, but in the real world probably not. But then again if you are really that worried consult someone who can answer this properly.

TiG

[Russ]

im 98% sure you cant, and let me tell you why...

Say you just purchased a DVD from play, good news is, you have a DVD, bad news is, you didnt pay for it... confused? with DVD's you pay for a lisence to WATCH the DVD not actually "own" it as such. if im wrong then sum slap me, but like i said, 98% sure.

[lynni]

Sorry but what does fixing TV sets have to do with this

Because he was asked to do it and refused 1) because he said it was illegal and 2) because if he got caught, he would no longer have a job

[Falcon2004]

im 98% sure you cant, and let me tell you why...

Say you just purchased a DVD from play, good news is, you have a DVD, bad news is, you didnt pay for it... confused? with DVD's you pay for a lisence to WATCH the DVD not actually "own" it as such. if im wrong then sum slap me, but like i said, 98% sure.

Then doesn't that mean I have a licence to watch the film regardless of the disk its being played on?

[Steve]

Then doesn't that mean I have a licence to watch the film regardless of the disk its being played on?

But does that licence allow you to copy that DVD, or just watch it?

[Howard]

The license allows you to do what you please with it as long as that doesn't involve distributing it to other people. After all, you're still one person and can only watch it once at a time, what does how many copies you have, matter?

[turkster]

UK Copyright law (which is not necessarily the same as other countries) permits authorised (licensed) users of computer software to make necessary backups. That right does not extend to films, music, etc.

Basically, whenever an original work falling into one of a lengthy list of pre-defined categories is created, it is automatically protected by copyright. That list includes music, film/video, literary works, computer software, computer databases, photographs, paintings etc. By default, the person doing the creating owns the copyright, with the major exception being when the work is created in the course of your employment, where the employer owns the copyright.

Having established that ANY original work falling into these categories is protected (and the creator need do NOTHING to gain that protection - it is, by statute, automatic) the question then is "what acts breach that copyright?"

Basically, unless the law says a given act is NOT a breach, ANY reproduction of a protected work is a breach. There are many exceptions, most of which will not affect Joe Public. For instance, use of copyright material in judicial proceedings is an exception, as are certain academic uses. The use of extracts for critical review and/or news reporting is also an exception. Many of these exceptions are judged, however, by a "fair use" policy - just because you're writing a review of a film for a website doesn't mean you can upload a copy of the whole film, though you would get away with limited extracts, maybe some stills or even brief clips.

The two major exceptions that will affect most people are :-

1) Computer Software backups
2) Timeshifting

There is a separate piece of legislation (a Statutory Instrument) that authorises legitimate backups, but it is NOT carte blanche to "backup" anything you like just because it's computer software.

Time shifting allows you to record broadcast programs, for your personal and domestic use, provided you are just briefly delaying the viewing. Those caveats mean three things :-

1. the period of delay is limited. A few days, maybe a month at most, is OK. Long-term archiving of a library of material is NOT.
2. time-shifting broadcast material is permitted, but recording from non-broadcast materials (such as DVD, VHS tape, audio CD, etc) is NOT
3. the delay must be for personal, domestic use. i.e. essentially for you or YOUR family. Lending the tape to mates is again, a no-no.



Finally, the penalties. Depending on circumstances, any breach could be a civil wrong, a criminal action or both. You could get sued, fined and even - in the worst cases, jailed (maximum, IIRC, 5 years!)

Unless you are indulging in copyright breaches commercially, (i.e. selling copies, OR are doing it as part of a business), then it is a civil matter, not a criminal one, so you could get sued but not prosecuted (i.e. not fined or jailed).

It is UNLIKELY that you will get sued unless you are either operating on a large scale, or happen to get selected by a large studio as an "example" to teach others. Lawsuits are expensive and as damages is effectively the only punitive remedy, and they are based on the extent of the damage the rights-holder suffered, lawsuits are not likely at all. If you stick protected material up on a website, you'll probably get a "take it down or else" snottygram, and maybe get booted by your ISP/web host but are unlikely to get much more. If you copy a few disks for your MP3-walkman or the car, you are VERY unlikely to end up in court, though it is technically possible (and technically unlawful).


The HEXUS Position.


While YOU might not get sued for copying a few disks, publishers are a MUCH better target for a lawsuit. Not only would the damages potentially be much higher, if it could be established that large numbers of people broke copyright because of information gained here, but because HEXUS is a business, that opens up the jail-time option.

The implication is that we will err on the side of caution. We don't seek to take some moral anti-copying high-ground. We won't preach. BUT, we won't put ourselves at risk of lawsuits or criminal proceedings either. The upshot of that is that if you lot want to discuss copyright breach as a debate topic, that’s fine with us, but if you get into a ‘how-to’ , we'll delete it.