That's VERY close to being right. It's not actually backing up a DVD per se that is illegal - it's backing up a DVD which contains copyright material, without permission from the copyright holder that is illegal.Quote:
Originally posted by Bindibadgi
No dude, its illegal. Taping anything off the tv is timeshifting and you have 2 weeks to watch it after which time you need to remove it from your VHS. DVD backups ARE illegal in the UK as they sell you the lisence to watch it, not the movie itself. The lisence is non transferable to any other media. Same with MP3 players and CDs too - that way you have no leg to stand on when you go back to the shop and request for a CD that copys to MP3 unfortunatly. I think the mp3 companies should go sue the RIAA for this, however, noone cares about the UK market. Doesnt matter who its for or whatever. The only reason they can get away with selling DVD backup software in the UK is that you could use it for a home movie you made from DV.
Im not saying its RIGHT however im saying what ive been told by many that that's the law. I backup my DVDs cause the devil would have to wear ice skates to get to work before i bring my original DVD disks to uni with me.
If I put my own holiday movies on DVD, then THAT I can legally back up. Note however, that nobody else can, without my permission.
Of course, in general terms, when people talk about copying DVD's, they generally mean commercial DVD's and THAT is illegal UNLESS the copyright holder has either given you specific permission, the copyright has expired or the owner has placed the content in the public domain. The same applies to Audio CD's.
Breach of copyright is, however, a CIVIL offence, not a criminal one. You can be SUED, but not tried in a criminal court UNLESS you are doing the copying as part of a business. If you start charging for the copies, or even dealing in illegal copies (without having copied them yourself) it is a criminal act AS WELL and you could be both sued AND convicted of a crime (up to 5 years in the slammer IIRC).
If you try to pass the copy off an an original, i.e. copy the cover notes, copy the dics label, etc, then you could also be charged with counterfeiting and the penalties for THAT are even worse.
Personally, I believe we ought to have a right to back up pour own legally-held CD's and DVD's (and VHS tapes,audio cassttes, etc), but we don't - at least not legally..
So personal copying of protected material without the copyright owners permission, unless covered by one of a very limited set of statutory exemptions (like timeshifting) IS illegal, but as the only remedy is to sue, and the damages for personal breaches are likely to be derisory, it is something that is technically illegal, but rarely if ever followed up on.
However, whilst a copyright owner is not likely to take you, as an individual, to court for copying a DVD, especially if you legitimately own the original, they are MUCH more likely to either threaten, or take, legal action against anyone publishing details of how to do it, or who is seen to be encouraging it.
Therefore, we have a clear policy here.
Please make sure that any discussions you have do not in any way encourage or condone illegal activity. If you don't, we are VERY likely to edit or remove offending posts. This is simply a preventative measure to forestall potential action that could shut the board down.