While reading a thread on the software forum

I came accross a thread that prompted me to ask you guys for your opinion

and maybe even make a poll out of it

so here it is

If you bought the cd, dvd and you want to make a copy of it because you know the cd will eventually get scratched or damaged should you have the right to do so?

 

Buy a case if you know the cd is going to be broken lol. That is how I think of it. If you know the cd is going to be broken, why bother to buy it?

I mean, you can always make copies as a last solution. As long as your not going to sell them or give them away.

 

rip it to the HD and emulate it, saves me a cd/dvd+/-r(w) and it's faster.

then again, it's a non-issue for me as the Dutch law allows one copy for yourself.

 

Yep, save the wear and tear. If the CD has to be in, use an emulator. I have most all mine on HD using Alcohol 120%. And, yes, much faster and less noisy.

 

I've got a few CD's that my wife didn't see fit to place back in the CD case and let them stay on the floor of the car for a couple of days. Did I mention that I also have two kids that will step on anything?!? Now I am wishing that I had made backups of them so I don't have to buy them again.

 

I copy every CD that I pay for, whether it is games, music, software, etc. IMHO, I paid for it, it is mine, and I can do as I wish with it as long as it is for MY use.

 

Boccemon hit the nail on the head. When you buy something no one has a right to tell you what to do with it as long as it's your own personal use. After all, I am not renting it, there for I have a right to keep it safe the best way I know how....buy, copy, store original.

 

Usually the E.U.L.A. has a contingency for at least one backup of paid for software by the purchaser, for the purchaser. I sure as hell don't want to use the originals all the time on some of my VERY expensive business software.

Officially, one has to check with the individual's state/country laws.

It usually doesn't cover giving copies to ANYONE, including family members, unless it's shareware/freeware to start with.

 

Xflat you were not wrong in the advise that you gave
I was just curious to know how you all feel about this kinda thing
Reason I asked is because I was thinking about buying a dvd copying program. I also heard that they software maker is continually being taken to court and sued by the movie makers of America. From what I understand the software company keeps holding and holding but they have no idea when they will lose the battle if they do. I happen to think that If I bought the dvd, I should have the right to make a copy of the original and place the original in a safe place.
With kids, cousins and family all around sometimes cd's and dvd's do not have a chance.

 

I agree with you 100% To make a copy of any cd for backup is a good thing
To make copies for friends and Family it is not a good thing but I believe that it happens more oftern than not.
I am not saying that it is right but it cannot be stopped.

as for the sites that provide all the information for hacks and whaever else.
I also do wonder how can they stay afloat? but then again there are plenty of sites out there that should also be taken down for other reasons and yet they stay afloat.
Maybe the law makers are not up to par with the internet and fail to understand what is really going on.

 

Curiously, we all have copies of parts of MG since it is downloaded to the cache on our computer and there are copies cached on Internet servers or indexed on search engines.

Anyway, looks like copying may be made legal: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/3893285.stm

 

Well, I do copy my CDs for backup and speed, and convinience (my whole CD collection is now in mp3 format sitting on my server, where i can get to it even if im not on my own PC...)

BUT that doesnt mean that I'll tell people how to do it on MajorGeeks, where it could be read by ANYONE who could quite easily use it for illegal activities, and when they say "I found it on MG" then MG gets in trouble.... and nobody is happy. Tim & Jim shouldnt have to be responsible for what some person on their forum posts telling someone (who might not be who they say they are, doing not what they say they are doing...) how to theoretically "pirate" material.

 

Well, all my cd's are GPL'd
(all the GOOD ones anyway)
They actually WANT you to give copies away (and test the beta stuff, too).

Well, I will answer DI Endi's question this way.....

Yes, if I purchased something that was in "this arena", like rock-n-roll music, what have you, I would burn a back-up. You bet. Then you don't have to worry. You don't have to "baby" the media. Have fun. Its backed up.

But giving the stuff away. No, that is like stealing.
Have I ever done ANYTHING like that? I'm no angel. But it is certainly not a practice.

 

ditto - we use the copiers to use and the originals stay put away. this way when i lose, ruin or destroy a cd ( as I am prone to do) - its not a big deal.

now if you are copying them to sell or whatever- that is not good...NOT GOOD..............

 

Legally, copying DVD's is no different than copying your favourite program on T.V. with a V.C.R., or making a photocopy without the author's consent. Everyone does it, but it's technically copyright infringement.

Common sense should prevail, and as was said giving instructions to make an illegal copy of a program on a public forum is obviously a no-no.

 

Copies are allowed for personal and private use only. It is copyright infringement to sell, rent, charge fees for viewing, or to distribute copyrighted material without the owner's written permission. Just read the FBI warning at the start of every movie. The recording industry fought recordable CDs out of fear of piracy, ironically they recieve a sizeable income because they get a cut of the price for every recordable CD sold. The movie industry went through the same thing with VCRs, and will go through it with DVDs. As soon as they get a way to make money from DVD copying, they will back off. Don't sell them or pass out copies to your friends, and it stays within the law.

 

Why not post a statement in the forums and on the back=up software download page that lays out MG's position on copyright law and the admins expectation that members will adhere to the law. 3 minutes

 

Hmm, that would get MG into trouble if someone didn't do as they said. You cant do a check on every person that goes to the backup section and downloads a program.

If it should say anything, it should say that MG has nothing to do with what you use the software for, it just provides the download link. But really thats gone over in the disclaimer..

So if you get arrested because of copying DVDs, then its their own fault not MG's.

 

That is not what I said. I just said that MG should make it clear that it does not advocate violating copyright law or the EULA, if anyone is worried about any misunderstanding or confusion , that the downloads are meant to be used for legal purposes only, and anyone who violates the law does so at his own risk. Like you said, though, this is all covered in the disclaimer, so there is no point in worring about it, is there?

 

(shrug) Best Buy doesn't post a disclaimer in their recordable media section stating that they don't condone illegal copying. The sticky note in the Games forum lays out the official MG position on piracy in general pretty well, although that's not in a prominent location.

As far as what you can copy, the old Sony Betamax lawsuit a couple decades ago defined what you're legally allowed to copy, regardless of dire warnings on the media itself. Backup copies of anything you purchased/own legally, for your own use, is just fine. "No copying for any reason" warnings have been common forever, but that's the industries wishes, not what's legal.

And ever since that case, any recordable media you buy, even if it's for recording your OWN work, gets a royalty to the industry, which is patently extortion. I used to record sermons for my church that got given out or sold cheaply if anybody wanted them, and it burned me up that we were paying a royalty to RIAA for recording our own material. If you use a CDR to backup your emails and personal files, you're paying a royalty to the RIAA.

And they call US thieves!

 

Thats not strictly true any more, actually. You can get "budget" CD-R's, which are sold on the premis that they'll only be used for data use, or personal backups.

However, if you want to say, record a demo and distrubute it in CD-R format, you're legaly obliged to buy a "music CD", which costs a bit more but as you say has a royalty to the music industry as part of the purchase price.

Not sure if thats the case over in the U.S.A but thats how it is here.

(if you're wondering why I know this, its because I record and help manage a small local band, and "it is my bizzness to know"

 

The purpose of a disclaimer is not to give the user information, it is to cover the owner's,manufacturer's or distributor's ass so they can't be sued easily by some idiot who does something wrong or illegal with their product and gets into trouble, as a result of the idiot claiming not to have been warned sufficently. In the U.S., there are no "loser pays all legal fees" laws, so even a frivolous lawsuit can drive some entity, a website for instance, into bankruptcy even if they may win. For example, every lawnmower sold here has a sticker warning the user not to stick body parts into the spinning blades, because some moron did just that, and won a judgement against the manufacturer because there was no warning against doing so. The warning is on every lawnmower to protect against lawsuits, not to save fingers. I was only suggesting a little more C.Y.A. since some are worried about trouble in this area.