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Originally posted by: Starboy
As for bootlegging, it appears we have some legal counsel on the forum. Digitalman, am I right in stating that you are allowed to own backup copies of media which you have paid for? i.e. I can rip mp3's of songs when I own the album? So if I own the VHS version of the "faces" release, isn't it legal for me to obtain that same material in a different format? I have paid for the rights for personal use of the movie. Honest question, not a challenge.
Yes and no. First, I should be clear that I am not a lawyer, but I have done much, much, much legal research into First Amendment rights and into copyright law. None of what I'm about to tell you will get you to pass the bar, but it is based on fact and precedent. Please don't make me cite the references. I don't stake my freedom on any of this, but all of the research I have done points to these conclusions.
Yes, you ARE allowed to own backup copies of media which you paid for. Unfortunately, if a DVD is digitally encrypted, it is currently illegal for you to break the encryption scheme under a different law. This was the entertainment industry's way of getting around the "backup" issue. They made it illegal to engage in the technical process that allows you to back up a disc, even if you have the right to make a backup. Kinda like in Monty Python's Life of Brian ... Stan had the right to have babies, even if he couldn't actually have them. ;-) Personal note: I think it was beautiful that this incredible digital encryption scheme that was designed to protect DVDs was promptly hacked by a (then) 13-year-old kid. Even greater is that he released the code into the public domain, where it spread like wildfire, making it damn near impossible to police. If you cannot effectively police a policy, then it becomes unenforcable and new precedent is created for the owner of the copyright selectively enforcing his rights, and thus making his case much weaker. Did you know that the code for breaking the DVD encryption has actually been on t-shirts and worn into the courtroom by citizens when the issue was tried?
Anyway, what is NOT legal would be for you to own backups on a format that you haven't purchased. If you owned the original Faces VHS release, you could back that up to DVD for your own purposes. Or, if a friend gave you a copy of his backup of the same edition, and you still owned your official releases, that would be legal too. But if you did not buy the Laserdisc version, then technically you wouldn't have the right to own a backup of that format. Laserdiscs were mastered using a different process, and often contained different content such as widescreen format, commentaries and AC3 sound.
An analogy in the music world is this: You CAN take an album, cassette, or original CD of which you own a legal copy and re-encode it into MP3. If a friend owned this original CD too, and he ripped an MP3 version and gave it to you, that too wouldn't be a crime. However, if he gave you a rip of a "remastered" version of the CD and you only had the original edition, that would actually be a crime. (For example, the original Pink Floyd's "The Wall" vs the Remastered version). The reason is that the Sound Recording (as defined by the Library of Congress) would be an altered form. See, there are two kinds of copyrights, one for the conceptual work, called "Performing Arts" (PA for short) and one for the actual recorded form, called "Sound Recording" (SR for short). If the copyright holder remasters a CD or a movie, the physical form has changed, if not the conceptual work. (Greedo shooting first does not apply here ... that was a change in concept and would have required an update to the PA copyright too.) When I record a demo of my own material, I copyright the music and lyrics using the PA form AND the sound recording on a SR form. Then, when I have it remixed in the studio for proper release, I have to amend the SR form to include the updated work. If I change any lyrics or music, I have to update the PA form as well.
The ultimate question becomes "Who really cares?" If you owned the THX VHS set, and you obtained a backup of the Faces Laserdisc set on DVD, it is highly unlikely that you *would* be prosecuted, even if you *could* be prosecuted. Your intent was to preserve a movie which you bought legally on a format that won't deteriorate. If the master wasn't from the same strike, but the PA content didn't change, who really cares? Only uptight money grubbing lawyers and very anal-retentive coypright holders. Further, if you actually bought the official DVD (in addition to all your historic purchases) LFL and Fox would be much less likely to go after you for backing up of one of your previous editions, even if the source of the format were different. Reason being, you wouldn't be accepting this backup in lieu of their legitimate product. In short, if you aren't affecting their bottom line, they frankly don't give a rat's ass. But if you're selling backups, or accepting backups without any legal license in your posession, you're a target.
Mike Verta's site explains it so eloquently. His "restoration" is coming solely from compiling the various formats he owns, and he has no intent of selling the finished product. More power to him.
I'm more interested in the legal arguments around "backing up" movies that you have rented. There is a serious grey area there that hasn't been totally resolved. There is a concept called "time shifting" that legally allows you to record a program off of TV and watch it later. If you rent a movie but don't have time to watch it during the rental period, can you legally "time shift" by recording the movie and then watching it at your leisure? This is a serious debate going on in copyright law, and it will only take one judge with the balls to say "Yes" to that question to turn Hollywood's home video industry on its ear. Blockbuster's stock will plummet on that day, but will then skyrocket after sales go up -- when everybody starts renting movies and backing them up, rather than purchasing them outright.