the law and backups in laymans terms???

[luvvbuzz]

i am slightly confused about the law in some areas of copyright material. firstly i am in the uk. i am under the impression that i am allowed to "backup" an origional dvd that i own, or cd. i am allowed to do this supposedly because if my origional gets damaged i can always revert to my backup? is this correct or not? or do i always have to play my backup to make sure my origional doesnt go wrong?
if i have a backup of a dvd, and i accidently loose my origional dvd when i travel home on the bus or something, or i get burgled, am i allowed to keep the backup or not? if i can produce a receipt that shows i paid for my origional dvd is that not proof enough that i owned the origional?
i ask all this because i wonder why the law lets people backup, if when the origional gets lost, you are not legally entitled to hang on to the back up. if thats right whats the point of backing up in the first place? am i getting this all wrong? i am not saying we shouldnt bother backing up, but as far as the law goes it just seems unjust. if i am wrong, please put me right.

[lordsmurf]

Afraid of the DVD Police?

[tgpo]

edit..............opps

[pacmania_2001]

DMCA only relates to US citizens.

Most countries have some legislation regarding fair use and the right of an owner of a say a DVD to have a single backup in case of damage, theft or something along those lines.

I'm not an expert on UK law so I'll wait till someone from there can clear up the situation a bit more accurately. Perhaps Craig (Tucker) can help you.

[indolikaa]

Pacmania beat me to the punch...

[Will Hay]

Afraid of the DVD Police?

Not really helping there smurfoid, considering it seems to be a reasonable and well-intended question.

luvvbuzz, I am in the UK too and could only say the law is woolly, at best.
My field is construction law and that's no better, so I do have some background.
There is argument for fair use, insofar as you should be able to backup/make a copy of your spice girls CD to play on your car cassette player.
Is it strictly legal as far as UK common law goes?
Officially I doubt it but whatyou have to think of is...
...if you are only backing up your dvd's because you genually feel the originals are at risk, can produce the originals at a moments notice (sorry officer, I keep them at my mates house...bollocks sonny, come with me) then you have nothing to worry about.
I back up all the ones that will get damaged (ie. bob the builder, teletubbies, the tweenies etc.) and the rest?
Well, I'm just careful.
If you're the sort who's using this thinly vieled shite to copy blockbuster rentals then no matter what you do you can't dress it up, you're breaking the law.
Will

[luvvbuzz]

the law is an ass

[acd-75]

My two'pence worth is that if I buy a CD DVD or whatever I will make copies for my own use. I am not gonna buy a CD to leave in the car or van for some scumbag to break in and rob. I tend to make compilation CDs of ones I have bought or I make them mp3 to play on the pc or to have all of a particular artists work on one cd.

If they expect you to buy one CD for the house and the same again for the car, in this overpriced country, i think not!

As long as Im not copying stuff to sell them im not doing anything wrong.

Andy

[Craig Tucker]

In the UK you basically are'nt allowed to copy anything (even if you own it). So why they sell mp3 players over her I don't know, because you are not allowed to take tracks from a CD that you own, convert them to mp3 and put them on your mp3 player. You can't record off of the radio or keep video recordings from the TV over a certain period of time, so I guess that 99% of the British public break at least 1 of these ridiculous laws.

http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/8342
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/8151

[Will Hay]

the law is an ass

Not really helping there smurfoid, considering it seems to be a reasonable and well-intended question.

I take that comment back smurf-boy, I was wrong, I admit it now
What do you know about RF cables, I hear you're the resident expert, no?
Will

[luvvbuzz]

the police do not have time to chase people for backing up there stuff though, so whats the point in that law, if they are not going to implement it why not relax it? i agree people should not copy stuff which they dont own and try to make profit from it, but you know, if the police are not going to bother implementing the law why should people bother obeying it?

[tgpo]

if the police are not going to bother implementing the law why should people bother obeying it?

Just because something isn't enforced doesn't mean it is right. If you knew that the cops wouldn't chase you if you killed someone, that wouldn't make it anymore right to actually do it.

[Will Hay]

Beat me to it tgpo, well put.
Which would you rather have, a cop chasing the guy down who attacked your wife or concentrating on the geek backing up his Buffy collection?
Any force in the land isn't sufficient to enforce every single law of the land, but like tpgo said, hell, everyone's doing coke so lets make it legal.
Think outside the box kid.
Will

[Craig Tucker]

But you've backed up some of your DVD's though, right will.

[indolikaa]

Any force in the land isn't sufficient to enforce every single law of the land

Inidividual responsibility. It's coming back.

[stiltman]

Any force in the land isn't sufficient to enforce every single law of the land

Inidividual responsibility. It's coming back.

Yeah right.....

Got some swamp land in Florida I'm trying to unload

[indolikaa]

Got some swamp land in Florida I'm trying to unload

Yes, but that's believable. After all, Florida is home to the Everglades.

Now had you said you have some swampland in southern Arizona, I'd be all over that!

[stiltman]

you south of Tucson?

[indolikaa]

No, Snowflake. Remember? Round Valley? Basha's in Taylor?

Tucson. WAY too liberal for my taste. Don't be confused by the University of Arizona plates on all my vehicles, though. There are some things in Tucson that are politically acceptable!

.indolikaa.
Go Wildcats!

[stiltman]

DOH!

[luvvbuzz]

i am not talking about attacking people or killers, im just talking about a law that is there which is not enforced regarding backing up. i agree about it being a personal responsibility issue, we should all be responsible for our own actions and be able to govern ourselves to make the correct moral judgments, but that only 100% works in a perfect world, which is something we dont have.
coming back to what i origionally said at the top of this thread, i dont think it is right that i go out buy a dvd in hmv for like £17.00 for it, then i back it up, but if somebody steals my origional or it gets lost, i then have to go out and buy another new one or destroy my backup. i know why this law is there, it is to stop people copying stuff and selling it, so people who buy copies cannot then claim the once owned the origional. i understand that law protects the copyright owner, but it doesnt protect the consumer. but at the same time i dont know what can be done to give the consumer a right to keep the backup. its all to complicated and my heads hurting whilst some voices in my head are waking the neighbours, i will just leave and hopefully everything will turn out gravy.

[Will Hay]

But you've backed up some of your DVD's though, right will.

I think I made that point in the thread, but...
....no, I'm not repeating myself.
Either you're taking the piss or you missed my point entirely, I can never really tell.
Could be worse, I could be a moderator who had some of his old posts dug up
Will

[luvvbuzz]

Ooooooo

[mysticgohan17]

if one of your dvds is stolen after you've made your backup, can you keep the backup because:
1. you bought the original
2. you've made no profit from the theft of the original

[Craig Tucker]

Either you're taking the piss or you missed my point entirely

Which one do you think

[bugster]

@luvvbuzz, take a look here for something to worry about

[luvvbuzz]

that doesnt bother me in the slightest. its just a law that the police do not enforce. its just the money grabbing tarts at the big media companies trying to stop people from doing what they are never going to stop them doing. its sad, i dont condone people breaking the law but i wouldnt take any notice of that. the only one thing that worries me about things like that is the power that these big companies have and the influence that this can have on outcomes of these situations. in business and politics money talk and if you got it, your made, if you havent, your f*cked. it beats me why them people dont make the software themselves, that way they make money on a situation that they know they will never beat.