Legal to own. Illegal to GET?

[Comipa]

I've been doing as much reading as I can come up with search terms on the legality of ripping DVDs I physically own.

From what I'm sorta getting, DVD rips are legal to have under Fair Use.

However, it is ILLEGAL to get around the copyright protections that block people from getting the rip at all.

Can anyone tell me if there is anything I'm misunderstanding? I really hope there's something else.

I also read a bit about people worrying over whether or not rental stores can tell if a DVD has been ripped onto a HD.

Any truth to that with the copyright protection tech of 2011?

Your answers will really put my mind at ease.

[jrogers1965]

People have been copying tapes, cd's & whatever for years. I don't think "backing up" for personal use, is illegal. But if you go overboard & then sell them at yard sales or flea markets, then you run the risk of going to jail.



Just an observation

[jimczyz]

You are allowed by law to make 1 backup copy of a disc you own.

[maineman]

I'm not an attorney and certainly have no legal expertise, but here's my 2 cents.
Laws vary country to country, but in the US, this is a tangled web at best.

As I understand the fair use provision, some courts have said it's ok for consumers to make a copy for their own use, but these same courts have rendered a decision that makes owning and using the tools to make such copy, illegal, at least in the US.

On the one hand, I can't imagine a movie studio going after an individual who has legally purchased a studio movie and made a copy on his/her hdd to use in his/her own home.

On the other hand, I wouldn't sell copies on the street corner.
I would do nothing to call attention to myself.
Right or wrong, consumers do not have deep enough pockets to go up against a movie studio.

And no, there is no way to determine if a dvd has been viewed vs.copied.
The very same laser on a ODD reads the disc whether it is being "viewed" or "ripped".

[Complication]

I'm not a lawyer but I'll share what I have learned.

Making copies and/or format shifting of a title you own in the US is considered legal by most copyright experts. The original physical disc is your proof that you own a legal copy. This means that the copies are legal under fair use as long as both the original and the copies remain in the possession of the same person.

An example of using fair-use is a company that would rent VHS movies by mail that had been edited to remove the bad language and naughty bits. The mailers actual had both the original VHS movie in a sealed container and the edited copy. Indecently, the company ended up getting taken to court not because of the copying but because the directors didn't like their work being chopped up (derivative work).

So, a backup or conversion of something you own is probably fine. However, the backup is only really useful for discs that rot or get damaged. If the original is lost or stolen then any copies are then in violation of copyright and should be destroyed (remember that the original disc is not just the movie but is also your proof to the courts that you still own a legal copy).

As far as circumventing the copy protections, that is rather murky. You doing it for yourself is generally accepted as legal. The creation and distribution of tools to help you circumvent the copy protections is illegal in the US. Luckily, DVDFab is based in China.

One bit of warning: DVDFab forum policy does not allow the discussion of copying of rental discs. Please limit your questions and comments accordingly.

[signals]

Fair Use came to the US from English common law. It is part of the copyright law in Title 17 of the U.S. Code. The part of the statute that prevents the sale of products like DVDFab in the US is the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA), which strangely enough has language that protects Fair Use rights. What we need is someone very rich and with very good lawyers to challenge the seemingly conflicting provisions of the DMCA.

You can read the US Copyright law and the DMCA here: http://www.copyright.gov/title17/

We still have a few personal freedoms remaining in the US, so it is not illegal to buy, just illegal to sell.

[Comipa]

One bit of warning: DVDFab forum policy does not allow the discussion of copying of rental discs. Please limit your questions and comments accordingly.

Ah. Apologies.

Other than that I feel better about backing up my disks.