Is it legal?

[schematic2]

If an individual no longer has a player for his purchased VHS tape, would it be legal to have a single copy dubbed to DVD for his own use?

Thanks in advance

[AlanHK]

Why ask such a question? There aren't copyright lawyers here who can give you authoritative answers. You'll just get a bunch of opinions, none of which have any legal weight.

My opinion is that it's quite moral, I wouldn't hesitate to do it for myself or a friend. But it probably is technically illegal in some countries. So I wouldn't offer it as a commercial service.

If you must be 100% legal, buy a DVD version. Or ask the copyright owner if that's not available.

[[_chef_]]

Yeah, and the answer depends on your location!

[thecoalman]

If you're in the US I'm pretty sure that would illegal, having said that no one is going to come pounding on your door because you transferred a VHS tape to DVD for your own personal use.

[schematic2]

Thanks for your opinion coalman.

[Supreme2k]

Actually, wouldn't Fair Use (again, location) allow for format shift? Plain backups are allowed too. I think that pretty much any strict personal use is allowed.

On the other hand (as I've said many times), unless you're selling, sharing on P2P or distributing it in any way, no one will know or care, so the question is moot. It's only when people start going down a slippery slope should they worry: "That's okay? Well then, surely this should be fine too."

[ricoman]

I think most objections are about transferring digital content. VHS isn't digital so you should be able to make a copy. I, personally, would do it anyway if I wanted to. Who the hell has the right to tell me what to do with my own tape as long as I am not making money on it.

[gastrof]

Not true.

There are copyright laws that affect copying VHS tapes as well.

There always have been.

That being said, as I understand it, you have the RIGHT to copy (for YOURSELF) a video you bought, so's to have a backup.

Having the copy be on a disc rather than another tape? I don't see how that'd be any different. Should still fall into the "fair use" catagory.

I'm no lawyer, but I want to comply and comply well with those laws, and I have no problem copying stuff for myself in this way. I believe it's totally legal.

[ricoman]

I stand corrected. Now that I think of it, macrovision protection was used on VHS. Just been so long since a watched a tape, I forgot.

[ron spencer]

advc100 is your friend

[Rich86]

I stand corrected. Now that I think of it, macrovision protection was used on VHS. Just been so long since a watched a tape, I forgot.

Macrovision copy protection on a vhs tape is not any sort of digital encoding covered under the DMCA. It is simply intentional flaws inserted into the video signal intended to confound the agc circuits in a vhs deck. I cannot imagine why a person does not have the right to copy a legally owned analog vhs tape to another media for personal use. It is no different than dubbing a personally owned vinyl lp to a cassette or a cd, imho.

[thecoalman]

Actually, wouldn't Fair Use (again, location) allow for format shift? Plain backups are allowed too. I think that pretty much any strict personal use is allowed.

I researched this before and my brain is giving me a 404.

I think I'll stick with what Adam's comments were where copying a DVD without protection is concerned, I don't see whay they wouldn't apply to VHS. Hopefully I'm not butchering them. When you purchase a Video or any copyrighted amterial you don't have any any rights to make copies of it unless there is an exception. For example there is an exception in copyright law that allows you to backup software you have purchased. There's no exception for video AFAIK and making a copy would be against the law because you have no rights to do so.

I tried a quick search on Google for format shifting and didn't come up with anything substantial except for Australian law. You may want to try a search on it. Time shifting is something different which allows you to record a copyrighted work for later viewing but you are supposed to delete it once you view it, this I know is allowable under US law.

And again going back to Adams comments, it has never been tested in a court of law and probably never will be. So you have to follow whatever the law id regarding copyrights in general. IMO the MPAA isn't going to bring such a lawsuit against anyone most likely because they fear the outcome could go against them.

So is it illegal? Probably. Are you going to get arrested? Not unless you try to distribute it in which case you have broken established laws and no longer fall within the backing up for personal use category.

[Sephiroth666]

If you must be 100% legal, buy a DVD version. Or ask the copyright owner if that's not available.

Are you suggesting there's some chance in hell places like Universal would make me a DVD of Peter Benchley's "The Beast" for the right price, since it's not commercially available in any part of the world? At this point, that sounds pretty absurd. Although, it would be nice. There should be some way for movie fans to get their hands on old movies that are unreleased on DVD, even if they cost a shitload more than movies at Walmart.

[thecoalman]

There should be some way for movie fans to get their hands on old movies that are unreleased on DVD, even if they cost a shitload more than movies at Walmart.

Running off a bunch of DVD's for few people doesn't make economical sense, that part is at least true. Providing that video and the hundreds of thousands of other titles online that will never make it to disc won't happen either because that actually makes sense and would produce a nice profit to the movie industry.

[Salva Veritate]

Of course it's illegal. The movie industry doesn't give two shits that you don't have a VCR, there's no excuses for copying a movie. But you won't get caught or prosecuted until you start selling it (or if you make like 10 copies because they could pin "intent to sell" on you if they really really wanted to).

[Supreme2k]

For example there is an exception in copyright law that allows you to backup software you have purchased. There's no exception for video AFAIK and making a copy would be against the law because you have no rights to do so.

On the other hand, DVDs may technically qualify as software. I have not really heard this argument, as people tend to concentrate on the "movie" aspect of it, as if it were a tape or film reel. DVDs are merely data that is being read by a computer (even in a standalone, albeit a very simple computer).

As it has been stated by myself and others, privacy of your own home + low legal priority = okay (or at least "Who cares?")

[lordsmurf]

These sorts of questions always amaze me. If it's such a concern to you, the answer for you (true or not) is "no". Better safe than sorry, right?

There are lots of laws (many silly, many contradictory), but enforcement and judicial review is far more important. Example: Oral sex is actually illegal in many states and countries. But I never see people asking if that is illegal! And I pretty much never see anybody prosecuted (at best, it's a tack-on charge to "throw the book" at somebody). In many cases, such laws were repealed or stricken down at their court test.

[AlanHK]

If you must be 100% legal, buy a DVD version. Or ask the copyright owner if that's not available.

Are you suggesting there's some chance in hell places like Universal would make me a DVD of Peter Benchley's "The Beast" for the right price, since it's not commercially available in any part of the world? At this point, that sounds pretty absurd. Although, it would be nice. There should be some way for movie fans to get their hands on old movies that are unreleased on DVD, even if they cost a shitload more than movies at Walmart.

Probably not, but the question was what is legal, and those are the legal options. There is no legal right of access to old movies in the format of your choice.

And I've seen "The Beast", and wouldn't want to watch it again if you paid me.