4 ms·

> She has a copy of it I got on google play for her which she can play on her tablet. > So I pirate the movie (please don't arrest me, it's google's fault). I

> She has a copy of it I got on google play for her which she can play on her tablet. > So I pirate the movie (please don't arrest me, it's google's fault). Is it pirated if you already own a legally valid license? How about rips of blu-rays you own, which you solely use and do not intend to share? Is that pirating or using your legally owned product on a different medium?

midoridensha 4y ago
>Is it pirated if you already own a legally valid license? I imagine it depends on who you talk to. If you talk to the company lawyers, they'll say it's illegal and you need to pay up. If you talk to a different lawyer that believes in better IP rights, they'll tell you it's not illegal but hasn't been tested in a court of law. Ultimately, the only way to know if something is illegal, in the US, is to do the possibly-illegal act, then get yourself sued for it (or worse, arrested, since some IP violations can be prosecuted criminally), so that it can be decided in a court of law whether it's actually illegal or not. Once a court precedent has been set, then we know if something is truly illegal or not. Though this can change if another case ends up with the court (usually a higher court) throwing out the precedent.
- jfoster 4y ago
  Feels like there should be a precedent along these lines by now. Do these cases get settled so commonly that none covering this type of case have been ruled on yet?
  - lozenge 4y ago
    What constitutes this "type of case" and are you confident a judge won't create a new distinction separating this one from previous ones? The most famous case decided in consumers' favor was about recording tapes from TV broadcasts to watch at a different time. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Corp._of_America_v._Universal_City_Studios,_Inc https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Corp._of_America_v._Uni....
    - jfoster 4y ago
      You can make the argument that any precedent might not apply to a new case due to a distinction being made. The nature of precedents seems to be that they are a set of basic facts, a judgement, and only a guide as to how future cases might be considered. Of course every case is unique in some ways that may or may not matter.
  - di4na 4y ago
    There have been multiple. It is considered illegal** ** This is here to point out that it being illegal can be interpreted in multiple ways. Some steps of the process have not been covered. Like "is writing everywhere that i allow you to buy a thing or possess it but only give you a temporary licence to play it under TOS and EULA that you cannot physically read legal?"
haroldp 4y ago
> How about rips of blu-rays you own, which you solely use and do not intend to share? Is that pirating or using your legally owned product on a different medium? This is protected fair use. But distributing software to decrypt DVD DRM is illegal.
- Tepix 4y ago
  Not sure if DeCSS is still illegal but the OP was talking about blu-rays and they are ... "less hacked".
paraselene_ 4y ago
"using your legally owned product on a different medium" You're refering to format shifting[1]. Legality will vary differently between jurisdictions, but there are rulings in the UK making it illegal for personal use so there's that. Ripping blu-rays, most likely means getting around AACS which is probably illegal under DMCA. See 17 U.S. Code § 1201 and some rulings[2]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Format_shifting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Format_shifting [2] https://www.copyright.gov/1201/2018/ https://www.copyright.gov/1201/2018/
Izkata 4y ago
In the US, circumventing DRM includes "avoid" and "bypass", so I'd guess it does violate this: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/1201 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/1201 (though I wouldn't call it pirating).

midoridensha 4y ago

>Is it pirated if you already own a legally valid license? I imagine it depends on who you talk to. If you talk to the company lawyers, they'll say it's illegal and you need to pay up. If you talk to a different lawyer that believes in better IP rights, they'll tell you it's not illegal but hasn't been tested in a court of law. Ultimately, the only way to know if something is illegal, in the US, is to do the possibly-illegal act, then get yourself sued for it (or worse, arrested, since some IP violations can be prosecuted criminally), so that it can be decided in a court of law whether it's actually illegal or not. Once a court precedent has been set, then we know if something is truly illegal or not. Though this can change if another case ends up with the court (usually a higher court) throwing out the precedent.

jfoster 4y ago
Feels like there should be a precedent along these lines by now. Do these cases get settled so commonly that none covering this type of case have been ruled on yet?
- lozenge 4y ago
  What constitutes this "type of case" and are you confident a judge won't create a new distinction separating this one from previous ones? The most famous case decided in consumers' favor was about recording tapes from TV broadcasts to watch at a different time. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Corp._of_America_v._Universal_City_Studios,_Inc https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Corp._of_America_v._Uni....
  - jfoster 4y ago
    You can make the argument that any precedent might not apply to a new case due to a distinction being made. The nature of precedents seems to be that they are a set of basic facts, a judgement, and only a guide as to how future cases might be considered. Of course every case is unique in some ways that may or may not matter.
- di4na 4y ago
  There have been multiple. It is considered illegal** ** This is here to point out that it being illegal can be interpreted in multiple ways. Some steps of the process have not been covered. Like "is writing everywhere that i allow you to buy a thing or possess it but only give you a temporary licence to play it under TOS and EULA that you cannot physically read legal?"

haroldp 4y ago

> How about rips of blu-rays you own, which you solely use and do not intend to share? Is that pirating or using your legally owned product on a different medium? This is protected fair use. But distributing software to decrypt DVD DRM is illegal.

Tepix 4y ago
Not sure if DeCSS is still illegal but the OP was talking about blu-rays and they are ... "less hacked".

paraselene_ 4y ago

"using your legally owned product on a different medium" You're refering to format shifting[1]. Legality will vary differently between jurisdictions, but there are rulings in the UK making it illegal for personal use so there's that. Ripping blu-rays, most likely means getting around AACS which is probably illegal under DMCA. See 17 U.S. Code § 1201 and some rulings[2]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Format_shifting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Format_shifting [2] https://www.copyright.gov/1201/2018/ https://www.copyright.gov/1201/2018/

Izkata 4y ago

In the US, circumventing DRM includes "avoid" and "bypass", so I'd guess it does violate this: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/1201 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/1201 (though I wouldn't call it pirating).