Topic Legality...

[Mekon]

You also can't record something that you are actually watching ... so most PVRs with timeshift are helping you to break the law...

http://www.copyright.org.au/admin/cms-a ... 121632.pdf

I read that somewhat differently, in that you can't record something that you are watching in real-time (as that would be for the purposes of watching it a second time).

[diamondd]

It's all a bit ridiculous, these laws (and content delivery systems) need to get with the times.

[ChainsawMcP]

I think the most relevant part is in bold below - (from the copyright council PDF linked above...)


Can I record from TV or radio for other people?
The legislation is not clear, but it seems that you can record from TV and radio for members of your household or your family to watch at a more convenient time. You are entitled to lend the recording to members of your household or family, but it seems that you are not entitled to give the copy for them to own.

Can I record programs that Iʼm watching or listening to so that I can enjoy them again later?
No. You can only record programs that you are not watching or listening to. This is because the new time-shift provision says that you can only make the recording in order to watch it or listen to it “at a time more convenient than the time when the broadcast is made”.

So I would say that the sort of PVR that records as you watch - so that you can "rewind" if you get interrupted by a phone call or door knock or whatever - would actually be creating an infringing copy... unless it only starts recording in response to a button push as you walk away.


This of course is all in the same basket as the years and years of (strictly speaking) illegal taping of TV programs that we were all doing anyway...

[=beast=]

i think you should go a head and rip those DVDs to your computer. you can find plenty of info via google on how to bypass the DRM

if you purchased it, and dont plan on selling the copies or distributing them for free to other people, then stuff the law. you are harming absolutely no one, and the only way the "law" will know is if they entered your house and searched your computer...and im pretty sure theses some kind of law against that as well

[Bluefire]

Would whatever of the 3 media companys that owns the dvd's youve purchased attempt to get money out of you if you somehow got caught.. probably..
Would they succeed... well probably not.
They would probably attempt to try you in an american court...
Fair use laws would come into play, a digital copy for personal use of a product you own is deemed fair use as far as Im aware. So you shouldnt have an issue there.
And well.. you go before a judge in aussie and say, heres my physical copy.. been sitting unused in my shed, heres my digital copy which has only every been used for personal use and never shared...
Theres really fk all chance of you actually get into trouble..
Tho court costs and time lost could really screw up your year.

Ofcourse the programs to do the copying are themselves illegal in some countries..
Extracted from a wiki as an example..

DVD Shrink is a freeware[1] DVD transcoder program for Microsoft Windows that uses a DVD ripper to back up DVD movies. The final versions are 3.2.0.15 (English) and 3.2.0.16 (German); all other versions, such as DVD Shrink 2010, are scams

Legal status

On August 17, 2005 the official DVD Shrink website was updated to say that the site "is no more!", prompting many sites to mirror the latest DVD Shrink version and offer it for download. This was a result of DVD Shrink's web host receiving a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown notice, as compromising limits on the accessibility of a copyrighted work is prohibited in many cases under the laws of the United States, specifically the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.[5] Shortly after, the website was restored, and a search box was put in place of the download link. DVD Shrink is no longer available from the official web page, but it is available from many other sites on the Internet and it suggests finding a download source using a general web search, "DVD Shrink".

In some countries, the software in itself is illegal under applicable laws pertaining to copyrighted content. German law, for instance, while allowing the manufacture of copies of copyrighted digital material for personal, non-commercial use, dictates that it is illegal to circumvent mechanisms that prevent copying. Therefore, the use of any software enabling a user to work around copyright restrictions such as CSS is against the law in Germany.


So as you can see.. you definatly should NOT use google to find programs to do what you would like.. just to be safe

[PalZer0]

I don't think fair use applies when circumventing DRM is involved.

[-Slayer-]

I always thought you can make backups of what you already owned your not downloading it, example you have kids who like to put there own favourite disk into the drive all the time, would you risk an original or just do a backup of the disk and if it gets damaged no drama as you own the original just create another, plenty of software out there that can rip a disk 100%.

I think sometimes copyright is taken way over the top, if they didn't want us to record stuff why even put a record button on hardware.

my take on it, probably wrong but meh!

[Otto-matic]

The problem is that yes you can make backups, but you can't break any DRM when making those backups.

The laws are a bit dumb, not even sure the DRM part applies in the US but it does here.

[PalZer0]

It applies in the US too. That's one of the things we had to sync up with them on in order to get the free trade agreement through.