Gosh Darn Copy Protection ##$%^&

[Cochese]

No, that's not quite right. It is illegal to make, sell, or disseminate tools to break the copy protection. It is not illegal for an individual to break the copy protection or use those tools.

The wiki has a reasonable treatment of this topic:
DCMA

That's up for debate.

It also criminalizes the act of circumventing an access control

[woodturner]

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From what I have read so far, it is legal to make a copy, but in doing so you must inherrently support someone else doing something illegal (developing/distributing the copy protection cracking software).

Probably true for most people, but you could write your own tool to circumvent the copy protection. In addition, machine manufactured before the new copy protection was introduced will copy protected disks. They can also be copied on a computer.

[parnelli]

Making a copy of material you do not own is illegal. One is permitted to make one "backup copy" of copyrighted material one owns, provided no more than one copy is in use at any one time.

I've read thru the wiki link you provided and didn't see this.

It's contrary to what I understood- that copying a DVD is illegal because you must break the copy protection to do so- which violates DMCA. The exception is if you do so only to copy a small portion (not a substantial portion) for educational or non-profit use.


Making a copy of a book might be legal- but AFAIK not of software or of DVD or BluRay

[woodturner]

I've read thru the wiki link you provided and didn't see this.

That may not be in the wiki - it's in the basic copyright law.

[cabinetman]

Anyone know how the copy protection works? Is there a way around it?

That being the subject of your post, I hope you picked up some info on how to get around it. If I were you, I wouldn't worry about the "copy police" if you make copies for your own use. I hope this thread gets back on topic seeing as how the legality of it has been beaten to death.


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[TheOne]

May be a little too late but I have made copies of VHS tapes (TV programs) to DVD using a package from a manufacturer called Honestech. The package is called VHStoDVD I have version 3.0. I believe they are up to version 5 now. Its not a bad little program. It also allows you to make music CD's. I have never tried copying a prerecorded VHS movie so I cannot give any help there, but for television recordings, it's great. I do have a fairly good PC so I can copy programs up to the 720p setting.

There is no connection between myself and this company other than as a satisfied customer.

[parnelli]

That may not be in the wiki - it's in the basic copyright law.

What's in basic copyright law? Making a copy of something you own as a backup? Agreed.

But DVD's don't fit this because to do so you have to circumvent the encryption which is a violation of the DMCA.

If unencrypting DVD's were legal then there wouldn't need to be a Library of Congress exemption to allow unencryping to use short segments for educational purposes- it would already be legal.

To answer Bill's question- you'd need a analog capture card to digitize the video from tape- or to get DVD copies and rip those with software of which there are several different brands and then seriously compress the video files before burning them onto a blank DVD

[woodturner]

If unencrypting DVD's were legal then there wouldn't need to be a Library of Congress exemption to allow unencryping to use short segments for educational purposes-

Do you have a cite for that? I'm not aware of such an exemption, or the need for one. It's legal to copy essentially any copyrighted material for educational use. While it is discouraged by the university, I could copy an entire DVD and show it to my class without legal issues.

[Kristofor]

And you can breack the DMCA to copy for educational use because of a LoC anti-circumvention exemption... http://www.copyright.gov/1201/

That is not the same as saying you can copy any copyrighted work you like for educational purposes. Try passing out unauthorized complete photocopies of a textbook, or class packet and you'll run into trouble...

The exemption list is updated every few years.

However, to date, there is no such exemption for individuals copying the DVDs you own (assuming they are CSS protected) onto a media server or your phone/other device...

Frankly, IMO as part of the tradeoff for granting copyright (and for the last few decades essentially extendending it perpetually) ensuring the ability to backup content I own or to move it onto other devices I own seems to be entirely fair and reasonable, but it's not legal today.

[parnelli]

Do you have a cite for that? I'm not aware of such an exemption, or the need for one. It's legal to copy essentially any copyrighted material for educational use. While it is discouraged by the university, I could copy an entire DVD and show it to my class without legal issues.

Here's the citation:
http://www.federalregister.gov/artic...s-control#h-17

It's not a question of fair use- it's a question of DMCA. Can you unencrypt, copy and show a DVD and show it in it's entirety to a class without getting in trouble? Yes. Is it legal? No. If you were to do the same for portions, yes.

I argued about DMCA back when it was enacted, and gave some money to the EFF to try and stop it. It's killing the concept of fair use-

[woodturner]

Can you unencrypt, copy and show a DVD and show it in it's entirety to a class without getting in trouble? Yes. Is it legal? No. If you were to do the same for portions, yes.

Thanks for the cite. It appears the university is not up-to-date on their copyright training, I'll have to talk with them about that.

The limitation to film study classes is interesting - it appears that I could not legally decrypt and show a clip in my engineering classes, based on that cite.