Legality of AnyDVD

[SLaTheR-]

Originally posted by Webslinger
As far as I'm aware no one who has been prosecuted successfully so far in the U.S. for downloading content for personal use only actually purchased the material being downloaded at any point (in other words, I don't believe the people downloading music and movies that were prosecuted bought the original discs). If this is not true, then I stand corrected.

No one is yet being prosecuted for downloading anything. The only cases being pursued by RIAA are of those who "make available" copyrighted material (whether they own it or not) for others to download. The act of dowloading is not a crime, but allowing for distribution is a big no-no. The problem they are currently having with this is that they want any and all content which appears in a "share" folder to be considered a copyright infringment. The courts appear to be having some problem with this particular interpretation of the copyright law. A few cases are pending. Lawyers for those charged are arguing that proof of actually uploading a particular file is needed, not just having the content in a folder.

The MPAA may not like AnyDVD, but as far as I know, there have been no prosecutions of anyone who is backing up legally owned DVD's. None that I have heard of anyway. They appear to be only chasing mass reproducers who sell at flea markets and many times from online auction sites. Any attempt to go after individuals who only make one copy, or even a few copies would be financially unprofitable to these organizations. They would probably have to go after just about anyone who has purchased a DVD burner.

Don't sell anything you backup, don't giveaway anything you backup and you should be fine.

I live in the U.S. and yes we live under laws written solely for the benefit of corporations. It has been this way since VCR's first became popular and the act of hooking two of them together was discovered. These laws have never been enacted on the individual sitting at home and making backups, even if they are written to allow such action. They are only enforced on those who are allowing for MAJOR sources of uploads, or those who are reproducing in quantity for profit.

 

[Webslinger]

No one is yet being prosecuted for downloading anything.

click http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=18560

While they may not be prosecuted--and while these people may be using p2p programs, the wording of this article makes it seem pretty clear that students are being charged simply for downloading.

At first, Sarah Barg thought the e-mail was a scam.

Some group called the Recording Industry Association of America was accusing the University of Nebraska-Lincoln sophomore of illegally downloading 381 songs using the school's computer network and a program called Ares.

The letter said she might be sued but offered her the chance to settle out of court.

Barg couldn't imagine anyone expected her to pay $3,000 — $7.87 per song — for some 1980s ballads and Spice Girls tunes she downloaded for laughs in her dorm room. Besides, the 20-year-old had friends who had downloaded thousands of songs without repercussion.

"Obviously I knew it was illegal, but no one got in trouble for it," Barg said.

But Barg's perspective changed quickly that Thursday in March, when she called student legal services and found out the e-mail was no joke and that she had a pricey decision to make.

Barg is one of 61 students at UNL and hundreds at more than 60 college campuses across the country who have received letters from the recording-industry group, threatening a lawsuit if they don't settle out of court.

In Virginia, 16 Virginia Tech students and a dozen at the College of William & Mary have received the letters.

"Any student on any campus in the country who is illegally downloading music may receive one of these letters in the coming months," said Jenni Engebretsen, an RIAA spokeswoman.
(rest of article snipped)

The wording of the article doesn't seem to suggest that Sarah Barg is being billed because she was sharing the files over P2P software (Ares is P2P software).

 

[SLaTheR-]

I would like to know how they can ascertain what content she was downloading. The RIAA went after college servers this past fall, but I was unaware that they were going after downloaders. Most colleges have refused to cooperate with this.

This type of proof would mean that these students where having their downloads monitored ands somehow either put on a secondary HD and stored with their accounts or were actually viewed while being downloaded. How else could they have any evidence of what the 4.5 meg file she downloaded was.

 

[Webslinger]

This type of proof would mean that these students where having their downloads monitored

Yes, exactly (and I believe they were)

 

[ireland]

Millennium Copyright Act

I do not know if any of this was posted b-4.
I have vision problems to read that’s all that’s been posted.

If you live in the United States, please understand that the Digital
Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) passed in 1998 does not expressly prohibit
consumers from making backup copies of digital works -

only the sale &
distribution of tools that circumvent copy prevention technologies.

what at those links i posted there when the site was open

The DMCA: seven year review


Rights Granted Under Copyright Law


""Bill of Rights"" & ,""this post i would read"" Users have right s


The Digital Millennium Copyright Act - DMCA

 

[Webslinger]

What DMCA does do is make it illegal to circumvent copyprotection to backup your dvds, and this supersedes your right to make backups in the United States.


"DVD technology also restricts copying the disc's data to a different source. This creates an interesting legal paradox. The right to make a backup copy, for personal use, of any media you own is well established under US "fair use" exceptions. However, under the DMCA, it is illegal to circumvent a DVD's copy protection. Thus, if you want to make a backup copy of a DVD, you have to break the law in order to exercise your fair use rights. Again, the rights of users have diminished, and those of the copyright holder have increased."

http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/site/crp-prda.nsf/en/rp00686e.html


That said, click http://forum.slysoft.com/showpost.php?p=16901&postcount=49

 

[zebadee]

Hi
Well that that, for now folks.
Nothing more (that hasn't been covered already) to be said.
Case (thread) closed.