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