Is it illegal for me to keep the Animatrix...

[subigo]

Odd question here... I had the Animatrix on DVD for a while and about a week ago I let a friend borrow it and he let me borrow LOTR's on DVD... well, he moved this weekend (about 1000 miles away) and I noticed we still had each others movies. I called him and he asked if we could just trade instead of sending them back to each other in the mail, etc... I said okay...

Anyway, I just noticed I have a backup copy of the Animatrix that I made. Totally forgot about it, it was the first dvd I ever backed up.

So... Can I legally keep this backup, or do I have to burn it...

[Supreme2k]

No, since you decided to trade the DVD with your friend. But, it is ultimately up to you. People in this forum can suggest what to do, but you have to do what is in your best interest.

[jaxxboss]

LOL, are you for real man? Jeez.

[overloaded_ide]

It would be illegal for you to keep a back up of a disk you traded, sold, returned to the store/rental ect...

Your only 2 options now are to quickly either destroy the backup or buy a new DVD of the same movie and then you could legally keep the backup since you would own the original movie again.

Better hurry because it doesn't take long for them to track you guys down

Or you could send your friend that now has the DVD the backup also.

Not really something I would worry too much over myself. Honest mistakes happen. But yes the correct thing to do is either replace the original or destroy the backup.

[j1d10t]

If you are looking for the legal answer, it's probably no, since you no longer "own" the movie - you transferred legal ownership of the movie when you traded with your friend.

But as Supreme2k said, people in this forum can only suggest what you should do. So keep in mind that it's only advice, not an order

[andydd]

Wot a stoopid post..This site is about copying DVDs and im sure im not the only one with 100s o DVD copies that i dont own the original too, anyway owning the original doesnt give you the right to copy it inmost countries anyway !

You are in breach of the forum rules and are being issued with a formal warning.
/ Moderator Craig Tucker

[andkiich]

This site is about more than just "copying DVDs" as you put it.

[subigo]

It may be a stupid post... fine.

BUT - I think that it is posts like mine that keep this site going... and it is posts like yours that could threaten it.

[tgm4883]

Wot a stoopid post..This site is about copying DVDs and im sure im not the only one with 100s o DVD copies that i dont own the original too, anyway owning the original doesnt give you the right to copy it inmost countries anyway !

No, statisically you cannot be the only one that has hundreds of copies of DVD's that you don't own. You are just the only one in this forum. In fact, I have hundreds of copies of DVD's, and I only own the originals for about 7/8th's of them. Although the rest are not copyrighted.

[andydd]

HHmm..My first warning..Would be interested to know why. As it appears I have commited the horrible crime of copying a DVD, and before someone says it would be ok if i owned the DVD, it wouldnt be coz that would still be illegal here in the UK.

TGM8443.

You think Im the only person who copies DVDs in this forum ?..ha..I very much doubt it, in fact ive seen lots of comments regarding 'back-up's and blockbuster..wink..wink...

I think a lot of people are kidding themselves if they think they people only 'back-up' and not 'copy' DVDs, but if we are all know its going on but not talk about it then whats the point of having this forum, if we all do one thing but then say another...horay for free speech !

Personally Ive got no real desire to spend time and money making 'back-ups' of DVDs that are perfectly safe sitting in their cases !

[housepig]

I think a lot of people are kidding themselves if they think they people only 'back-up' and not 'copy' DVDs, but if we are all know its going on but not talk about it then whats the point of having this forum, if we all do one thing but then say another...horay for free speech !

This forum isn't a democracy, it's Baldrick's forum. If you don't want to play by the rules that he has set forth, don't post here.

You want free speech? Open your own forum. Your right of free speech does not guarantee the right to post that speech on someone else's forum - merely that the government cannot prevent you from saying it.

There are good reasons for not encouraging pirate activity on this board, chief among them it opens this board up for legal penalties and possible shutdown.

If you are smart, you can get whatever information you need (short of serial numbers or links to warez) without having to be explicit about your piracy, and the board will continue to be an ongoing valuable resource. If you're stupid or bullheaded, you'll get a warning or get banned, so it's obvious to third-party observers that this forum takes an explicit stance against piracy.

[andkiich]

Not everyone on this forum is from Europe either, and it is legal in other parts of the world to backup videos that you own.

And a lot of these posts you state about people copying movies from Blockbuster, you might want to go back and see how many of them have actually been warned and closed because of it. I'd bet there are quite a few if not all of them.

Just because some people knowingly make illegal copies does not mean the majority of people here do. The majority of DVDs I create are private videos of peoples weddings, vacations, family events, and on occassion a TV show.

SUBIGO - it is not a stupid post. You didn't know and you asked. At least you are making an honest attempt at resolving an issue. I think already there have been some good resolutions given to you, the two easiest would be 1, go and buy an original of the one you have backed up, or destroy the copy. No one here is the DVD-police, so what you do is your business, but I think from the posts you've written already, you will do whatever is necessary.

[BSR]

subigo

I'd hate to see you throw away all that time and hard work of backing up that DVD, and DVD's cost money. Also mailing it to you buddy cost money and it could possibly get damaged in shipment or lost.
Why don't you just hold on to it for him until you see him again, and then you can give it to him.

[RabidDog]

You must burn your Dvd very quickly.
It is against the law for you to have it.
Dvd burns at fahrenheit 451.