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> the law prohibits you from making a copy without the owner’s permission. You can transfer the medium to someone else, but you can’t preserve the content for y
by LocalH 2y ago
> the law prohibits you from making a copy without the owner’s permission. You can transfer the medium to someone else, but you can’t preserve the content for yourself.
In theory, the law only applies to distribution. Also, fair use and fair dealing exist in multiple jurisdictions, which includes personal-only usage. A company would have a hard time achieving a legal judgement against you for the mere act of copying a book. Distributing it? Sure.
Copyright law explicitly allows for backups, at least in the US, which is where most of the companies exhibiting this anti-ownership behavior are located and thus bound by US law, especially when the consumer is also US.
Owning a license means nothing when the other party to the license can revoke it at any time without further consideration.
- otterley 2y agoAs someone who holds an IP certificate and JD diploma from a respected law school, I can tell you that most of what you’re saying is utterly false. There are some exceptions carved out by the Library of Congress to the DMCA, but I would advise you to educate yourself before posting further on the subject. You’re right that violation doesn’t necessarily lead to prosecution and liability—people break the law all the time without being prosecuted for it—but nevertheless, you risk getting yourself into hot water if you violate another’s rights.
- whattheheckheck 2y agoIf you extract a transcript of a youtube video and save that file for use later is that a copyright violation?
- LocalH 2y agoQuite honestly and frankly, I don't consider the DMCA to be just law. Regardless of that view, personal backups are absolutely allowed under copyright law. The DMCA only criminalizes the cracking of "effective" access control, as far as I know.
- otterley 2y agoIt's one thing to believe a law to be unjust. It's another to make false claims about what the law is. > Regardless of that view, personal backups are absolutely allowed under copyright law Under which section of the Copyright Act? Under which court ruling? Keep in mind that "fair use" is a legal doctrine that is evaluated on a case-by-case basis, not an absolute shield a defendant can raise as an impenetrable defense. No court has ever held that a licensee can, without exception, make a copy of a protected work as a backup. Where are you getting this bogus information from?
- LocalH 2y agoPersonal backups are at least allowed for software, per 17 USC 117, and I'm not aware that the DMCA altered that, it only added the nonsense about "effective access control" which can legally be as weak as ROT13. Perhaps not for non-software media. Copyright has been broken for decades, however. It's tilted away from the average person and towards big moneyed copyright holders, who vacuum up every IP they can.
- otterley 2y agoYes, they are allowed for software. But not for e-books--which are the subject of this conversation--or for other copyrighted works.
- zchrykng 2y agoPersonally, I'd love to see the jury that would convict someone when all they did was remove DRM for their own personal use/backup and never distributed it.
- otterley 2y agoOh, I don’t think that would actually happen. People violate the law all the time and nothing happens. Regardless, people should be aware of what the law is. It’s a different choice to decide to violate the law and take one’s chances than it is to rest comfortably knowing that something is entirely within their rights.
- account42 2y agoAlso, the right of first sale exists for physical copies. This means for a physical book you are actually allowed to distribute the content as long as you do not retain a copy yourself.