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I can run legally an mp3 through a calculator. No one can dictate otherwise - it's my machine, and purchased media to do with as I (privately) please. This does

I can run legally an mp3 through a calculator. No one can dictate otherwise - it's my machine, and purchased media to do with as I (privately) please. This does not interfere with copyright. To legislate otherwise would be insane - as that would effectively legislate your ability to calculate. This argument extends to any purchased media, to any program.

wilsonnb3 2y ago
If your mp3 is copy protected and your calculator bypasses that copy protection, it is in fact illegal (in the US)
- altruios 2y ago
  Such a translation would be "format shifting" which is protected under US/UK law (IANAL).
  - wilsonnb3 2y ago
    I think you are correct in the case of an actual MP3 file and calculator. I was thinking they were metaphorical.
    - altruios 2y ago
      Not just a mp3 file. any media you have purchased can be format shifted by you for archive/personal purposes. regardless of DRM/copy protections. What is illegal is redistribution (thus the copyright). Again: ianal. But this is kind of a fundamental right. If you own something, it's yours to do with privately as you wish. If you don't own the copyright, then you can't redistribute.
      - zerocrates 2y ago
        The DMCA makes breaking DRM illegal, even when done for fair use purposes, if it doesn't fall into a small number of tightly-defined exceptions. And they can go after tools that enable people to do this, as well (think of DeCSS for example).
  - kevin_thibedeau 2y ago
    The US AHRA requires serial copy management (SCMS or an equivalent) when using format shifting to digital media. Nobody bothers to follow that part of the law and it seems to have never been enforced.
- textadventure 2y ago
  There is no such thing as an mp3 being copy protected. A game on a cartridge is not "copy protected" either.
  - johnnyanmac 2y ago
    >Copy protection, also known as content protection, copy prevention and copy restriction, is any measure to enforce copyright by preventing the reproduction of software, films, music, and other media. I don't see much point in making the theoretical argument of "nothing is unhackable". The point of protection isn't to make some absolute defense, it's to mitigate low effort thieves. Any house can bypass a lock by using a cheap hammer on a window, but I'd still call a house lock a "lock".
karmajunkie 2y ago
unless i’m mistaken, nobody is telling you what to do with your media. the issue at play here would be whether the emulator publishers/developers have the right to publish what is almost certainly an infringing piece of software, which courts have repeatedly determined they do not.
- eptcyka 2y ago
  How is an emulator infringing on the copyrights of Nintendo?
  - wilsonnb3 2y ago
    While an emulator does not infringe on copyright and is illegal per US court precedence, an emulator being available is a large part of what makes copyright infringement popular and as such it is related. Adding in the DMCAs anti-circumvention provisions and the fact that you have to violate them to emulate a modern console, the whole thing becomes very nuanced and tightly linked to copyright infringement despite not directly infringing.
    - FMecha 2y ago
      >While an emulator does not infringe on copyright and is illegal per US court precedence At least until Nintendo manages to overturn Sony v. Connectix, given recent SCOTUS trends.
    - Brian_K_White 2y ago
      Explaining that emulators can be used in concert with copyright infringement does not explain what right a copyright holder has over emulators. That merely explains why Nintendo doesn't like them, not why anyone should care that they don't like them. Cars may be used to commit bank robberies, yet banks have no rights over cars.
      - wilsonnb3 2y ago
        > That merely explains why Nintendo doesn't like them, not why anyone should care that they don't like them I don't think it has been tested in courts yet but the general idea is that you have to violate the DMCA to use a switch emulator, so people making switch emulators are making tools to help people circumvent the switch's copy protection. Which is also a violation of the DMCA. Like I said, it is nuanced.

wilsonnb3 2y ago

If your mp3 is copy protected and your calculator bypasses that copy protection, it is in fact illegal (in the US)

altruios 2y ago
Such a translation would be "format shifting" which is protected under US/UK law (IANAL).
- wilsonnb3 2y ago
  I think you are correct in the case of an actual MP3 file and calculator. I was thinking they were metaphorical.
  - altruios 2y ago
    Not just a mp3 file. any media you have purchased can be format shifted by you for archive/personal purposes. regardless of DRM/copy protections. What is illegal is redistribution (thus the copyright). Again: ianal. But this is kind of a fundamental right. If you own something, it's yours to do with privately as you wish. If you don't own the copyright, then you can't redistribute.
    - zerocrates 2y ago
      The DMCA makes breaking DRM illegal, even when done for fair use purposes, if it doesn't fall into a small number of tightly-defined exceptions. And they can go after tools that enable people to do this, as well (think of DeCSS for example).
- kevin_thibedeau 2y ago
  The US AHRA requires serial copy management (SCMS or an equivalent) when using format shifting to digital media. Nobody bothers to follow that part of the law and it seems to have never been enforced.
textadventure 2y ago
There is no such thing as an mp3 being copy protected. A game on a cartridge is not "copy protected" either.
- johnnyanmac 2y ago
  >Copy protection, also known as content protection, copy prevention and copy restriction, is any measure to enforce copyright by preventing the reproduction of software, films, music, and other media. I don't see much point in making the theoretical argument of "nothing is unhackable". The point of protection isn't to make some absolute defense, it's to mitigate low effort thieves. Any house can bypass a lock by using a cheap hammer on a window, but I'd still call a house lock a "lock".

karmajunkie 2y ago

unless i’m mistaken, nobody is telling you what to do with your media. the issue at play here would be whether the emulator publishers/developers have the right to publish what is almost certainly an infringing piece of software, which courts have repeatedly determined they do not.

eptcyka 2y ago
How is an emulator infringing on the copyrights of Nintendo?
- wilsonnb3 2y ago
  While an emulator does not infringe on copyright and is illegal per US court precedence, an emulator being available is a large part of what makes copyright infringement popular and as such it is related. Adding in the DMCAs anti-circumvention provisions and the fact that you have to violate them to emulate a modern console, the whole thing becomes very nuanced and tightly linked to copyright infringement despite not directly infringing.
  - FMecha 2y ago
    >While an emulator does not infringe on copyright and is illegal per US court precedence At least until Nintendo manages to overturn Sony v. Connectix, given recent SCOTUS trends.
  - Brian_K_White 2y ago
    Explaining that emulators can be used in concert with copyright infringement does not explain what right a copyright holder has over emulators. That merely explains why Nintendo doesn't like them, not why anyone should care that they don't like them. Cars may be used to commit bank robberies, yet banks have no rights over cars.
    - wilsonnb3 2y ago
      > That merely explains why Nintendo doesn't like them, not why anyone should care that they don't like them I don't think it has been tested in courts yet but the general idea is that you have to violate the DMCA to use a switch emulator, so people making switch emulators are making tools to help people circumvent the switch's copy protection. Which is also a violation of the DMCA. Like I said, it is nuanced.