DRM question to ponder

[Ledbylight]

I came up with and interesting thought about "ripped" dvds. It's not legal cause it circumvents the DRM right? Well, what if you record your screen while the dvd is playing? No DRM broken right? Also, I was thinking the same thing for Amazon and iTunes digital copies. What's your guy's take on this? Legal? Let me know!

 

[Aletron9000]

I came up with and interesting thought about "ripped" dvds. It's not legal cause it circumvents the DRM right? Well, what if you record your screen while the dvd is playing? No DRM broken right? Also, I was thinking the same thing for Amazon and iTunes digital copies. What's your guy's take on this? Legal? Let me know!

that is basically the same as filming the movie in the movie theater

 

[8BitWonder]

No it's not legal, it's still circumventing the DRM.

Unless you actually own/bought it and don't plan to distribute the copy you made. Then it's more of a gray area.

 

[RedBlueGreen]

It's probably more of a grey area. Circumventing DRM to back up something you own shouldn't be illegal in the first place IMO. Yeah, it leads to piracy but if the person backing up the media isn't distributing it then it shouldn't really matter.

that is basically the same as filming the movie in the movie theater

Not really because the theatre is the one with the license to show/use the movie. By filming the movie you're creating a copy of the media to use without a license or permission. Once you buy the movie you have a license to use it (generally only for personal/non-commercial use).

 

[FAST6191]

Technically there is also DRM going on between the DVD and your screen. DVD called it macrovision, VHS also had macrovision, blu ray will probably have it fall under HDCP, many streaming services also favour HDCP.

 

[Kioku]

HDCP is a joke. It makes sense, but clearly it's not working.

 

[Ledbylight]

Hm thanks guys. Yeah I don't plan on sharing any of these as I just want "copies" of my dvds for plex. And @FAST6191 I am using DVDs and talking about digital content on amazon and iTunes that I legally purchased either in store or online.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

So my question is: Am I clearly breaking a law doing this? Should I do it?

 

[Pacheko17]

You're not going to jail dude, just do it.
As long as you don't go to a PD and scream "I PIRATE MOVIES" you're gonna be fine.

 

[gnmmarechal]

HDCP is a joke. It makes sense, but clearly it's not working.

And it just broke compatibility with older TVs which don't comply with it.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

You're not going to jail dude, just do it.
As long as you don't go to a PD and scream "I PIRATE MOVIES" you're gonna be fine.

Here, I'm certain that, if I went to the police and screamed that, they'd either laugh and tell me they do too, or tell me to shut up and gtfo.

 

[RedBlueGreen]

You're not going to jail dude, just do it.
As long as you don't go to a PD and scream "I PIRATE MOVIES" you're gonna be fine.

It's a copyright infringement anyway. It's civil law like breaking a contract.

 

[Ledbylight]

@RedBlueGreen how is it infringing?

 

[RedBlueGreen]

@RedBlueGreen how is it infringing?

Piracy is a copyright infringement because you're using copyrighted materials without permission.

 

[Ledbylight]

@RedBlueGreen true, but how am i in the wrong if it's my *legally* purchased items, and i'm not breaking drm (i think)?

 

[DinohScene]

Ripping DVDs/Blu-rays etc for personal use is legal, as long as you keep the original copy.
If the original gets destroyed, you have to get rid off the backup as well.
Under no circumstance should you give away those copies to people.

That's is basically it if you want to backup your things and be legal about it.

 

[Ledbylight]

Thank you @DinohScene , but ripping the dvds/blu-rays after decrypting is illegal. Reason being is it circumvents DRM and breaks DMCA afaik. So I'm trying to do it legally by recording my screen...

 

[DinohScene]

ISO copy?

Converting it is a grey area yeh.

 

[Ledbylight]

hm this thread is #trending 17 ppl viewing haha. And doesn't iso copy not work cause it cant decrypt?

 

[FAST6191]

Ripping DVDs/Blu-rays etc for personal use is legal, as long as you keep the original copy.
If the original gets destroyed, you have to get rid off the backup as well.
Under no circumstance should you give away those copies to people.

That's is basically it if you want to backup your things and be legal about it.

I have never seen that debated properly in court or any regs that matter. The closest I can get to is with some business type software where proof of purchase counts for a lot, though some companies tie it to bits of paper and other odd things (I vaguely recall reading about one tying it to dongles).

Equally the RIAA see me sticking my copied Pat Boone CD into my car CD player and drag me before the beak, I show them my pac man shaped original, and maybe an amazon order, and proving loss becomes very hard for them. No doubt it would be far easier to have a shiny unblemished original in such a scenario but I would not be too worried.

Going further the personal thing has a few question marks https://w2.eff.org/IP/eff_fair_use_faq.php , and if the EFF are a tiny bit hesitant then yeah.

 

[Subtle Demise]

The whole DMCA needs to be rewritten or completely repealed. It's caused more harm than good.

 

[Quantumcat]

Just consider that nobody cared when we used to tape movies off the TV on VHS (I may be showing my age there). Maybe the only difference here is it can be done with nearly no loss of quality?