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The difference is when mailing it, it gets worn out, so after a certain number of plays the renter needs to buy a new copy. If it's fine digitally it never gets

The difference is when mailing it, it gets worn out, so after a certain number of plays the renter needs to buy a new copy. If it's fine digitally it never gets worn out.

Spivak 4y ago
That doesn’t matter since you are allowed to copy your own digital media for the purpose of dealing with that exact situation. A rental shop would legally be allowed to make a backup copy of every disc they have in case it gets damaged.
- Thorrez 4y ago
  Hmm, are they allowed to rent out the backup copy if the original breaks? I thought rental was based on first sale doctrine and backup copies are based on fair use. I'm not sure if you can combine the 2.
  - bryanrasmussen 4y ago
    well I don't know either, but what purpose would a video rental shop have in making a backup copy in case the primary gets damaged if not to rent it out?
    - kshacker 4y ago
      Well once the disk was worn out, and you had a backup, you could re-sell the backup Of course this may be abuse of the fair use backup copy, but when talking digital, we are anyways inventing philosophies. Other way could be the backup could be entitled to "one last rental" to recoup last 4 bucks or so. I think that would be fair use but others may not.
    - Thorrez 4y ago
      Hmm, actually researching this more, I don't think it's actually legal for a regular individual or corporation to make a copy of a DVD movie for backup purposes. I don't think it actually falls under fair use. You can backup software[1][2] (allowed by law, not fair use) but not movies. [1] https://www.southerncaliforniapatents.com/articles/2014/10/07/can-i-make-a-backup-copy-of-a-cd-or-dvd-that-i-own/ https://www.southerncaliforniapatents.com/articles/2014/10/0... [2] https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/117 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/117
MichaelCollins 4y ago
Suppose the company threw out the disc and bought a new one after it was rented 50 or so times, would that be a meaningful change to the subjective moral fairness of their business model? Also, how do you feel about libraries rebinding their books to fix/prevent the books from wearing out?

The difference is when mailing it, it gets worn out, so after a certain number of plays the renter needs to buy a new copy. If it's fine digitally it never gets worn out.

Spivak 4y ago

That doesn’t matter since you are allowed to copy your own digital media for the purpose of dealing with that exact situation. A rental shop would legally be allowed to make a backup copy of every disc they have in case it gets damaged.

Thorrez 4y ago
Hmm, are they allowed to rent out the backup copy if the original breaks? I thought rental was based on first sale doctrine and backup copies are based on fair use. I'm not sure if you can combine the 2.
- bryanrasmussen 4y ago
  well I don't know either, but what purpose would a video rental shop have in making a backup copy in case the primary gets damaged if not to rent it out?
  - kshacker 4y ago
    Well once the disk was worn out, and you had a backup, you could re-sell the backup Of course this may be abuse of the fair use backup copy, but when talking digital, we are anyways inventing philosophies. Other way could be the backup could be entitled to "one last rental" to recoup last 4 bucks or so. I think that would be fair use but others may not.
  - Thorrez 4y ago
    Hmm, actually researching this more, I don't think it's actually legal for a regular individual or corporation to make a copy of a DVD movie for backup purposes. I don't think it actually falls under fair use. You can backup software[1][2] (allowed by law, not fair use) but not movies. [1] https://www.southerncaliforniapatents.com/articles/2014/10/07/can-i-make-a-backup-copy-of-a-cd-or-dvd-that-i-own/ https://www.southerncaliforniapatents.com/articles/2014/10/0... [2] https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/117 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/117

MichaelCollins 4y ago

Suppose the company threw out the disc and bought a new one after it was rented 50 or so times, would that be a meaningful change to the subjective moral fairness of their business model? Also, how do you feel about libraries rebinding their books to fix/prevent the books from wearing out?