Question:
I've recently invested in a DVD-writer and don't even know if its technically feasible but was curious more than anything.
In the past I've always made back-ups and compilations CD's of my own music CD's, which I know is perfectly legal, as long as you own the originals.
In terms of DVDs, I would only really consider it for some of my rarer disks which I wouldn't want to inadvertently scratch whilst viewing.
Anyone know for certain what the regulations are???
[mods, I don't know if this is dodgy-ground, but feel free to close if necessary]
Answer:

As far as I know you can't even back up music cd's, let alone DVDs as this is against copyright law.
There is an EC directive which entitles you to backup any computer software that you own.
Answer:

Originally posted by dp2
As far as I know you can't even back up music cd's, let alone DVDs as this is against copyright law.
There is an EC directive which entitles you to backup any computer software that you own.
I'm was 100% certain that you could back up music cds...does anyone have a definite answer to this :confused:
Answer:

I know of no UK law that states you can back up music CDs. Might be different in some states of America however.
Answer:

http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1107-946288.html
:eek:
Unless you're visually impaired as the Copyright (Visually Impaired Persons) Act allows you the right to make backup copies without the copyright holders consent.
Act provides that single accessible copies of a work may be made by or on behalf of a visually impaired person for their personal use without first seeking the permission of the copyright owners and without infringement of copyright.
Answer:

When you ask "is it legal", do you mean civil or criminal?
In the UK, copying material that you already own for a personal backup is unlikely to be a criminal act, as breach of copyright is only criminal if you make some profit or other commercial gain out of doing it. So for example, selling copies of DVDs or music would probably be criminal; making copies of DVDs or music available (including MP3s) on a website which has advertising banners would probably be criminal; playing copied music CDs in a public bar, hotel or club would probably be criminal.
On the other hand, copying copyright material is almost always against civil law, meaning that the copyright owner can stop you from doing it, and he can make you hand over the copies you have made ... if the copyright owner can be bothered to take those steps. In some circumstances the copyright owner can also get damages off you - but they would need to prove, for example, that if you had not copied the material then you would have gone out and bought it - for example if you have the original of a music CD at home and a copy in your car, then they could say that if you hadn't copied it then you would have bought a second CD for your car.
To take an analogy, it's a bit like the law on nuisance. If your neighbour's dog keeps on crapping on your doorstep, or your neighbour's dustbins stink, then in theory you could go off and get a court order to stop your neighbour from doing those offensive things, but in practice very few people would bother because the legal costs and time and trouble involved just do not make it worthwhile. On the other hand, if you scale up the problem, for example your neighbour suddenly starts pumping effluent alongside your doorstep, or sets up a pig farm in his back garden, then you might very well go to court to stop him.
Likewise, if the copyright owners (or FACT) find some guy with 5,000 copied DVDs in his shed then they might very well do something about it. But unless he is doing it for commercial gain, the worst that is likely to happen is that he must hand over the copies and maybe pay damages equal to what the DVDs would have cost to buy.
Bear in mind that even recording a programme or film off TV onto a VHS tape is a breach of copyright (although I think the law now permits it as long as it is for personal use and as long as you erase it after a few days).
Whatever the law may be, owning copies of DVDs or music that you do not own is not moral ... unless it is SW Ep IV,V,VI of course in which case it is no holds barred!
Answer:

Originally posted by dp2
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1107-946288.html
:eek:
Unless you're visually impaired as the Copyright (Visually Impaired Persons) Act allows you the right to make backup copies without the copyright holders consent.
Does the nedd to wear glasses count?
Answer:

If you read the copyright notice on every DVD, VHS and CD(...don't jump on me if you have one without such a notice, I've not seen every one :) ), it clearly states that it's illegal to make a copy of protected works. You might have read this or that on the forums pointing to loopholes, but the bottom line is...if you make a copy of copyright protected works you are breaking the law!!!
However, if you are doing it for your own personal use I doubt very much that you will encounter policemen kicking in your door and carting you off to jail. If you are doing it to sell them at your local car-boot sale, you will almost certainly get caught and face substantial fines...it's up to you if you think it is worth it or not :oh-hum: :nono:
...I once had copies of the Exorcist and Clockwork Orange long before DVD when they were still banned in this country. I must admit I made a few shillings out of these ;) ...then again, in case any legal people are reading this, I could have just made that up...you can't prove nuffin' :lol: :p
Answer:

Originally posted by cm-9
Whatever the law may be, owning copies of DVDs or music that you do not own is not moral ... unless it is SW Ep IV,V,VI of course in which case it is no holds barred!
:D Absolutely....it seems to me that the whole copyright debate is a bit of a grey area. Are you breaking copyright law when you make an mp3/minidisc or CD compilation of music tracks that you have purchased legally? If not, then surely the same applies to making a personal use copy of the entire CD? If it is violating copyright then that means that over 90% of music listeners are criminals :suspect:
I'm sure you could extend the same reasoning to DVDs
Answer:

When the ability comes to my home, I will back up all my important dvds. I don't care how legal it is. I have two small kids who watch Little Mermaid, Jungle Book etc. I will make back ups of these first! No way I want to pay £30+ for them on ebay, just to keep the kids happy!
Answer:

angel_eyes, did you read my whole post? The point is that making copies for personal use only is not criminal although you cannot describe it as legal as you are still in breach of the copyright holder's rights and in some cases they could have a civil claim against you.
Answer:

Originally posted by angel_eyes
:D Absolutely....it seems to me that the whole copyright debate is a bit of a grey area. Are you breaking copyright law when you make an mp3/minidisc or CD compilation of music tracks that you have purchased legally? If not, then surely the same applies to making a personal use copy of the entire CD? If it is violating copyright then that means that over 90% of music listeners are criminals :suspect:

Yes 90% of music listeners probably have broken the law but it's a law which can't realistically be enforced.
It would involve police raids in the early hours of the morning just to catch someone with a back up of a CD and that would A) be a waste of already over worked police forces, and B) a possible case of breach of human rights.
Answer:

Is it technically possible to back up DVD Movies? If so, How?
Answer:

Originally posted by highways
Is it technically possible to back up DVD Movies? If so, How?
It's probably not a good idea to ask that here as it's against T&Cs... at least I think so.
Answer:

Oh, it's technically possible alright, I've just watched a copy of the Led Zeppelin set...looked pretty good to me.
I think there is an article in the latest issue of ComputerActive magazine :)
Answer:

The rules are:
http://www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts1988/Ukpga_19880048_en_4.htm
Sounds like making a copy of each frame of a DVD would be ok !
" 71. The making for private and domestic use of a photograph of the whole or any part of an image forming part of a television broadcast or cable programme, or a copy of such a photograph, does not infringe any copyright in the broadcast or cable programme or in any film included in it."
They have also changed the rules to allow timeshifting, it used to be only allowed for schools - other than that video recorders were illegal !
One other question - the new warning at the start of films says that it is a criminal offence to take a camera into the theatre. Unless you are going to sell the copy it isn't.
Is there an offence of threatening someone with a legal statement you know to be false. Wouldn't that be contempt ?
Answer:

JimmyBoy, did you read my post? I do not think it can be right that 90% of people are technically criminals. Indeed, assuming the backups are genuine backups and not for commercial gain, it could not be police officers doing dawn raids as there would be no criminal offence involved. It might be FACT officers doing dawn raids ... except that they don't get warrants.
mgb_dvd - as far as I know, there is no offence of 'threatening someone with a legal statement' although taken to extremes it could count as blackmail, I suppose, if it involved a threat with 'menace' (i.e. fear of physical harm - imprisonment might just count). If a solicitor wrote a false or misleading statement of the law then possibly that solicitor would be in breach of professional conduct codes.
Answer:

It's probably illegal, which is all the more reason to do it anyway. You purchased it, it's yours, as long as you don't sell it or use it for public viewing, you should be able to do with it what you like.
Copy away.
MPAA, RIAA = Scum.
Answer:

It is totally illegal, read the copyright notice, but is virtually impossible to enforce...so the whole thing is a bit of a mess really.
Unless you're doing it for financial gain it appears this law can be bent as much as a very bendy thing! :nuts:
...hell, what are video recorders, cd recorders, audio cassette recorders and the multitude of other platform recorders for if not to breach the copyright laws...we live in a very strange world :D :lol: :confused:
Answer:

The whole copyright business is a minefield. I work for the Patent Office, part of which deals with copyright and I can assure you that it's far from simple. If anyone wants any information you may wish to have a look at www.patent.gov.uk as there's plenty of info regarding the subject there.
Answer:

Originally posted by HenryKrinkle
It is totally illegal, read the copyright notice, but is virtually impossible to enforce...so the whole thing is a bit of a mess really.

But that's only if the copyright notice is itself legal! It depends on wether you are buying a product (the DVD disk) or a licence to view the movie.
If you are buying the product you can do whatever you want with it legally, eg sell it, show it to your mates, make a copy etc. The only limits are the law on buying and selling things.
If you are buying a licence to view the movie then you agree to whatever the person selling the licence wants. Hence all the stuff about not showing it on coaches, oil rigs etc.
But if you are buying a licence then the disk has no value, and so the licence holder should replace it for the production cost if it wears out.
This is what happens on computer software, they make it very clear you aren't buying the software you are only buying a licence.
There was a case in Australia recently where the court basically said to the movie studios, decide cos you can't have it both ways.
Answer:

In the UK it's perfectly legal to make a single backup copy for your own private personal use. This is part of the copyright acts and amendments. This also extends to recording from broadcasts (radio and TV).
I think they tried to introduce something about a maximum period you can keep broadcast recordings, but it's impossible to enforce.
However, the ownership and production of software/hardware that allows you to make copies is more dubious. In particular anything that gets around copy (not region) protection.
In the US they introduced the draconian Digital Millennium Copyright Act which was basically a way for the government to swing everything (illegally) in favour of the industry. Thanks to the DMCA they've been able to rule that DeCSS (the content-descrambler for DVDs) is illegal because it's designed to enable copying by defeating the copy protection. A much argued case as many countries have ruled the other way (the original argument dubiously claims it was invented to allow Linux users to play DVDs... yeah right, like they weren't going to go make copies of DVDs as a result :norty: ).
Threatening copyright notices on videos and DVDs are usually just groundless. These notices are not law. It's like saying "I will sue you if you look at me". You can say that, and can even try to sue the person in a civil case, but there's no law against it (it would get thrown out instantly anyway).
They can't enforce it, and their claims about you not being allowed to resell it is not only ridiculous, but probably illegal. These notices are part of the protection racket that is Hollywood (same people who came up with the illegal region coding system).
However, when it comes to computer software, there's a legal trick which lets them sue you for breech of contract by making you agree to a 'licence' by either opening the box or installing the software. With a licence they can write whatever they like and sue you. However, this is not a criminal offence, but something that would have to be tried on a civil basis (the law still allows you to make one copy, although many software licences allow this anyway).
Ultimately, in this country, copying for back-up is legal. Playing and importing region-protected discs is legal. What Hollywood does by region coding their discs is illegal, however they are perfectly at liberty to put content encryption to prevent copying. Getting around that protection is the dodgy area in law.
Answer:

If you read the legal discription on your CD collection you see that it states that unofficial copying is illegal.
Whether this applies to the unoffical copying of stock (say in a factory) or the unofficial copying of a purchased product - your guess is as good as mine.
I'm guessing that 'all' unauthorised duplication of copy protected media is illegal.
Answer:

DeadKenny, I don't know whether you speak with industry knowledge but I feel your argument is full of holes. This whole copying argument has been going on for years and it seems to me that the only black and white part is that it's illegal to make copies of copyrighted material...period! For you to say that the copyright notices printed and displayed on virtually every CD and DVD are "groundless' and are not the law is clearly ludicrous. Copyright means the right to copy and if you don't own these rights or have permission of the person/company who does then you are not at liberty to make a copy...for any reason whatsoever.
This is why it is a daft situation, where we have multiple elctronic devices whose whole purpose is to infringe on these laws, but because of the sheer scale of the situation it is practically impossible to uphold this law in every circumstance. So it is only when the abuse is on a grand scale by individuals that action is seemingly deemed necessary.
The bottom line is you can't copy copyrighted material without the permission of the owner...
...but we all do, so why are we even having this discussion :confused: ;)
Answer:

Originally posted by HenryKrinkle
The bottom line is you can't copy copyrighted material without the permission of the owner...
Except when your basic rights under UK copyright law allows for personal private copying ;)
Oh, and there are definitely exemptions for certain situations in libraries, schools, etc. They allow for copying audio/video works and texts from books. I think there's a "quota" which allows up to a certain percentage of the work to be copied... at least in regards to books.
You'll note that most the "notices" are to do with public exhibition and sale and do not mention copying for personal use.
Copyright is enforced through the specific country's law, not just because someone says so by slapping a notice on their product. This is why it's perfectly legal to make copies in certain far eastern countries (though it's illegal to import those copies into the UK).
P.S. The notice's claims about "not for export" is a particular area that's against free trade laws in Europe and internationally.
Answer:

For the third time, on this thread we must distinguish between 'illegal' meaning a criminal offence ... and 'illegal' meaning contrary to a licence agreement or a copyright holder's rights, where they could maybe sue you in the civil courts if they could be bothered.
Only someone who makes copies for commercial gain - a pirate, for example - is committing a criminal offence.
For anyone doing it for personal use, copying is simply an infringement of someone else's civil rights - similar to creating a nuisance.
Basically what this means is that in this country the copiers have mainly won against the recording industry, so far - the recording industry would no doubt like to see every breach of copyright treated as a criminal offence like theft, but it hasn't happened yet.
The recording industry used to accept that people copied CDs onto cassettes, and a small charge was levied on blank cassettes to compensate. They are mainly upset because they have not managed to find a way to impose a charge on MP3 players or blank CD-Rs or DVD-Rs.
Answer:

Originally posted by DeadKenny
In the UK it's perfectly legal to make a single backup copy for your own private personal use. This is part of the copyright acts and amendments.
Thanks for that DeadKenny - any chance of a link/source?
Answer:

Is it legal to make back-ups of DVDs that I own?
Oh, no it isn't........
Oh, yes it is........
Oh, no it isn't.......
Oh, yes it is.......
(Is it legal to videotape a pantomime?):lol:
Answer:

Originally posted by cm-9
The recording industry used to accept that people copied CDs onto cassettes, and a small charge was levied on blank cassettes to compensate. They are mainly upset because they have not managed to find a way to impose a charge on MP3 players or blank CD-Rs or DVD-Rs. Er, yes they have. 'Consumer' CDRs, i.e. those for use in Hi-Fi CD recorders, are significantly more expensive than data CDRs (which cannot be used in such machines) due to the levy imposed on them.
This is obviously ineffective against the vast majority of copying, which is no-doubt done using a PC :rolleyes:
Answer:

If after a couple of years a DVD from my collection becomes unplayable, can I then contact the relevant studio and ask for a replacement, seeing as I am not allowed to make a backup copy. They cannot have it both ways.
Answer:

Originally posted by highways
If after a couple of years a DVD from my collection becomes unplayable, can I then contact the relevant studio and ask for a replacement, seeing as I am not allowed to make a backup copy.
Yes, providing the dvd is from the country in which you live.
Answer:

most of the time u can not back up dvd,s anyways as u can only
get 4.7gigs on a dvdr which means only single layer discs not
double layer
if that makes sense :))
Answer:

Originally posted by paul-sealey
most of the time u can not back up dvd,s anyways as u can only
get 4.7gigs on a dvdr which means only single layer discs not
double layer
if that makes sense :))
It does :). You can get double-sided discs though or just stick the two layers on two discs.
Not quite the same, but at least it's something.
What about backing-up onto DivX?
P.S. Where does the law stand on all the devices sold that allow copying, and in particular CD and MP3 players that buffer the data which is surely making a copy? What about certain players on Windows that copy tracks to the hard disc before playing (RealJukebox, and I bet Windows Media Player does something similar). They encrypt which is fine, but it's still making a copy without permission? If all this is illegal, then you'd never be able to sell Windows in the UK as it's capable of making copies.
Answer:

Originally posted by DeadKenny
In the UK it's perfectly legal to make a single backup copy for your own private personal use. This is part of the copyright acts and amendments. This also extends to recording from broadcasts (radio and TV).

Can you provide a link to that? I'd like to read it.
I think they tried to introduce something about a maximum period you can keep broadcast recordings, but it's impossible to enforce.
11 days, it is a law, but as you say it's impossible to enforce.
Answer:

there's plenty of software designed to let you copy a 9 gig onto a dvd-r or +r.
dvdxcopy is one. not sure if it is legal or not. i think there may be a case going against it soon