I'm not saying Congress has passed a law explicitly making personal copies legal, but it does appear courts (in the US) do consider market effect when determini

I'm not saying Congress has passed a law explicitly making personal copies legal, but it does appear courts (in the US) do consider market effect when determining fair use. This isn't exactly the same as personal use but it's pretty relevant: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/10/appeals-court-rules-that-google-book-scanning-is-fair-use/ https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/10/appeals-court-ru... > "While Google makes an unauthorized digital copy of the entire book, it does not reveal that digital copy to the public," the opinion states. Also, Pamela Samuelson, a professor at University of California at Berkeley has stated: "Personal-use copying should be deemed to be fair, unless there is a demonstrable showing of harm to the market for the copyright at work"