[G4] DVD burning..

[Mel Krewall]

To the best of my understanding, in the USA, it is legal via the Fair 
Use doctrine to make backups of your media, e.g. record -> cassette, CD 
-> CD or hard disk, etc. Because of the Digital Millennium Copyright 
Act [DMCA], however, It is illegal to circumvent digital protection 
measures like CSS on DVDs. So while it is legal to make a backup of 
your DVD, it is illegal to decode it for that purpose. How's that for a 
crafty piece of lobbying by Disney, the RIAA and the MPAA.
Mel

"Man blames fate for other accidents, but feels personally responsible 
when he makes a hole in one."
~ Author Unknown

On Jun 14, 2004, at 9:20 AM, Alex wrote:

>
> On Monday, Jun 14, 2004, at 00:06 Canada/Eastern, zhmmy harper wrote:
>
>> When does it become illegal, at extracting files, decoding, burning a 
>> new disk, having it in your possession OR actually playing it??? 
>> [...]
>
> See the "Pioneer 107 and DVD media question" thread in the archive. It 
> addresses some of these issues.
>
> The question is one of copyright, and copyright law differs and is 
> interpreted differently from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. What is 
> legal in one country, may be illegal in another (e.g., copying an 
> audio CD for personal use is legal in Canada but illegal in the US). 
> Also, it's an issue which to some extent is still sub judice.
>
> In law, not only the act, but also intent counts. Since one can't 
> argue any intent in extracting data from a copyright-protected DVD 
> other than breaking the copyright, that's where it becomes illegal. 
> Furthermore, copying a DVD illegally and possessing an illegal copy of 
> a DVD are two different issues.
>
>> Is it legal to burn a backup copy if you own the original (either CD 
>> or DVD)?
>
> In many jurisdictions, no. There is no "backup" of copyrighted 
> artistic work; the notion applies only to software. With respect to 
> software, it depends on the EULA (end-user legal agreement) -- some 
> permit a single backup copy, others don't permit any backup, and some 
> do not mention it, which may be interpreted to mean that they permit a 
> single backup copy as a procedure established by custom.
>
> However, in some jurisdictions it may be. E.g., in Canada, copyright 
> law allows making a copy of an audio CD, even if one doesn't own the 
> original, as long as its for personal use exclusively; but copying 
> DVDs, even for personal use, is illegal.
>
>> Is it illegal to capture parts of CDs or DVDs, modify them, then 
>> incorporate them into new and original music or video?  How much 
>> modification is required before a file is considered your own 
>> artistic effort?
>
> This is covered by the doctrine of fair use. Again, it differs from 
> jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and its interpretation is, again, in 
> flux; additionally, you must distinguish between plagiarism and 
> artistic effort. The latter may not be the former, but that doesn't 
> mean it's licence for breaking the copyright. There is no easy answer; 
> but there is also no easy excuse for not seeking permission from the 
> copyright holder.