Commentary

Copyright Office Urged To Okay DVD Copying By Consumers

People should be able to copy the DVDs they've purchased in order to watch them on tablets, advocacy group Public Knowledge argues today in a filing with the U.S. Copyright Office.

“Consumers purchase copies of works fixed in physical media so that they can own the copies of the works these media house. But as physical media are replaced by streaming services that do not transfer ownership of copies to consumers, consumers who wish to own copies of their favorite works may have no choice but to purchase copies housed on physical media first, then convert those copies to different media,” the organization says.

Public Knowledge adds that consumers also should be able to make backup copies of any downloaded videos they've purchased. “As devices change, consumers should not be required to repurchase copies they have already paid for each time a file format changes. Nor should they be unable to make backup copies of their movie collections in case of corrupted, lost, or stolen files.

The group's comments come as the Copyright Office gears up for its triennial review of copyright rules. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act makes it illegal to circumvent DRM in most situations, but also empowers the Copyright Office to make exceptions to the anti-circumvention rules.

In many cases, people can't copy a DVD or a downloaded file without first removing the digital locks that are aimed at preventing piracy.

This isn't the first time that the Copyright Office has been asked to make an exemption for DVD ripping. Public Knowledge also asked for a similar exemption three years ago.

Regulators declined the previous request. In a 2012 report, the Librarian of Congress and Register of Copyrights said that people don't have the right to access material in a "preferred format.

"Indeed," the report said, "copyright owners typically have the legal authority to decide whether and how to exploit new formats."

That decision drew some complaints, but they were overshadowed by the Copyright Office's refusal to allow people to circumvent digital locks in order to unlock their cell phones and use them on any compatible network.

That decision proved so unpopular that Congress passed new legislation, the Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act, which makes clear that people don't commit a crime by unlocking their phones
1 comment about "Copyright Office Urged To Okay DVD Copying By Consumers".
Check to receive email when comments are posted.
  1. Chuck Lantz from 2007ac.com, 2017ac.com network, November 3, 2014 at 7 p.m.

    Next, maybe they can modify my Sony DVD recorder to actually record stuff from our TV. The way it is now, about 90% of the time I try to record a TV show, the Sony refuses to do it, showing some message about violating copyrights. Life is SO hard!

Next story loading loading..