Fair Use and HTPC

[hothandiman]

Hope I am posting in the right forum. This might seem obvious, but wouldn't a Home Theater PC (HTPC) be the ultimate test of the so-called "Fair Use" doctrine? Right now, does not the DMCA prohibit you from ripping DVD's to your hard drive?

If this is not fair use, I do not know what is. They are my purchased DVD's which I have ripped to my HD Drives so I can watch the media I purchased in a more convenient way. I think that media servers, networked DVD players, HTPC, etc. is creating a perfectly legitimate reason to crack CSS so you can use your purchases the way you see fit. Any thoughts?

[pyrohydra]

Yes the DMCA does prohibit ripping DVDs (not the copying itself, but the encryption breaking). In my opinion however, this is little different than backing up a DVD, as far as fair use is concerned.

It is pretty sad that we are allowed to backup content we purchased on VHS, cassette, and audio CDs, but we're not allowed to backup content on a DVD because of the encryption and DMCA. Some in Congress are hoping to change this. Lets keep our fingers crossed.

[Nilfennasion]

I'm pretty good at tying all of my fingers in knots because of coordination problems, so I will do so for now. I still think we should be writing Jack Valenti, asking him to reimburse us for all the discs that have been destroyed by bad players or a failure to live up to the "indestructible" hype.

[flaninacupboard]

fill your video server to your hearts' content and if questioned you backed up from VHS and Laserdiscs that you now have in storage. LD's can't even carry macro

[Dimmer]

It is pretty sad that we are allowed to backup content we purchased on VHS, cassette, and audio CDs, but we're not allowed to backup content on a DVD because of the encryption and DMCA.

Don't forget that commercial tapes usually have Macrovision copy protection. Circumventing it is illegal, whether it's fair [use] or not.

[pyrohydra]

Don't forget that commercial tapes usually have Macrovision copy protection. Circumventing it is illegal, whether it's fair [use] or not.

I thought the DMCA only applied to digital content.

[Nilfennasion]

Unfortunately, while the name implies this, it is really just a series of blanket rules designed to cover up the inadequacies of the RIAA and MPAA's marketing system.