Fair use & copying software - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Slavakion · 06-29-2004, 05:22 PM

Yeah, so this topic has probably been done to death. I searched, but I didn't see what I wanted. Whatever.

So I happened to look in an instruction book for a GC game, and it said that backup or archive copies of the game are illegal.

I thought that as long as you owned the original, you could make a copy. I wouldn't be circumventing copy protection to make the copy, but i would most likely be doing that in order to <i>use</I> the copy.

So what's up? Is Nintendo lying to us, or am I mistaken somehow?

bob32 · 06-29-2004, 06:24 PM

I looked in a XBox game manual and it said that unauthorized copying, reverse engineering, or circumvention of copy protection (among many other things listed) is strickly prohibited. Doesn't say illegal, but it somewhat implies that.

If no copy protection is broken unlike XBox games and DVDs (as in movies and such), I don't see why it would be illegal. However if you can't use the backup, I don't see what the point of it is.

sailor · 06-29-2004, 06:27 PM

This is what the whole argument over fair use is about. The end user is supposed to have fair-use rights to backup/copy their music/movies/games/whatever, the media companies would have it otherwise. This is also why the DMCA is so widely opposed--all a company has to do is implement the most rudimentary of copy protections, and you can now be prosecuted for breaking that encryption, even if it was to make an archival copy.

Personally, I say fuck em, do it anyways.

digby · 06-30-2004, 06:16 AM

There is a bill in committee in the House of Representatives right now called the Digial Media Consumers' Rights Act (DMCRA). One of the things that it would explicitly state is that it is not illegal to circumvent encryption of make copies of media for fair use / non-infringing purposes.

It would be great if people wrote their congressmen asking them to support this bill if/when it reaches the floor. In fact, I just happen to have a link to a form you can print. I had an online form that would send it to your representative automatically, but I can't find it right now. If I do, I'll post it.

Letter linkage

Slavakion · 06-30-2004, 08:19 AM

Quote:

...unlike XBox games and DVDs (as in movies and such)

So archival copies of DVD movies are illegal just because of the encryption... huh...

Quote:

Personally, I say fuck em, do it anyways.

Oh, I do.

Any software app that's pretty important, I get the "unlimited demo" version. Plus, Doom9 has helped me get into DVD copying.

iflyadash8 · 06-30-2004, 11:00 AM

Fuck it, I still download music, and make copies of all my shit. The RIAA and the rest of 'em can screw themselves. I mean how exactly are they going to know?

06-29-2004, 05:22 PM	#1 (permalink)
Slavakion Mjollnir Incarnate Location: Lost in thought	Fair use & copying software Yeah, so this topic has probably been done to death. I searched, but I didn't see what I wanted. Whatever. So I happened to look in an instruction book for a GC game, and it said that backup or archive copies of the game are illegal. I thought that as long as you owned the original, you could make a copy. I wouldn't be circumventing copy protection to make the copy, but i would most likely be doing that in order to <i>use</I> the copy. So what's up? Is Nintendo lying to us, or am I mistaken somehow?

06-29-2004, 06:27 PM	#3 (permalink)
sailor beauty in the breakdown Location: Chapel Hill, NC	This is what the whole argument over fair use is about. The end user is supposed to have fair-use rights to backup/copy their music/movies/games/whatever, the media companies would have it otherwise. This is also why the DMCA is so widely opposed--all a company has to do is implement the most rudimentary of copy protections, and you can now be prosecuted for breaking that encryption, even if it was to make an archival copy. Personally, I say fuck em, do it anyways. __________________ "Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws." --Plato

06-30-2004, 06:16 AM	#4 (permalink)
digby Crazy Location: Ahh, the lovely South	There is a bill in committee in the House of Representatives right now called the Digial Media Consumers' Rights Act (DMCRA). One of the things that it would explicitly state is that it is not illegal to circumvent encryption of make copies of media for fair use / non-infringing purposes. It would be great if people wrote their congressmen asking them to support this bill if/when it reaches the floor. In fact, I just happen to have a link to a form you can print. I had an online form that would send it to your representative automatically, but I can't find it right now. If I do, I'll post it. Letter linkage __________________ mmmm.... pudding

06-29-2004, 06:24 PM	#2 (permalink)
bob32 Crazy	I looked in a XBox game manual and it said that unauthorized copying, reverse engineering, or circumvention of copy protection (among many other things listed) is strickly prohibited. Doesn't say illegal, but it somewhat implies that. If no copy protection is broken unlike XBox games and DVDs (as in movies and such), I don't see why it would be illegal. However if you can't use the backup, I don't see what the point of it is.

06-30-2004, 11:00 AM	#6 (permalink)
iflyadash8 Upright	Fuck it, I still download music, and make copies of all my shit. The RIAA and the rest of 'em can screw themselves. I mean how exactly are they going to know?