3 ms·

This is a legal question: If I go buy X content (DVD, music cd, random playstation game), and the medium is destroyed, what happens to my license under Copyrig

This is a legal question: If I go buy X content (DVD, music cd, random playstation game), and the medium is destroyed, what happens to my license under Copyright law? In what instrument is my license under Copyright law located? Do I still retain the right of a copy and to procure a copy elsewhere? If not, why not?

caf 14y ago
I've often wondered what happens when a junkie breaks into my house and steals a CD. Since a license is intagible it shouldn't be possible to physically steal it - so presumably I end up with a license but no copy of the music to play, and the thief (or whoever they sell it to) ends up with a copy of the music but no license to play it?
polymatter 14y ago
(IANAL) If your medium is destroyed you still have a licence, but you do not have a medium in which to exercise that licence. You therefore need to buy a new medium. You are prohibited from making a copy of the medium as that would allow you to distribute it which is braking the terms of your licence.
- ekianjo 14y ago
  Then why can't the company owning the license provide you a replacement disk/medium at a reduced fee (manufacturing cost only) since you still own the licence, technically speaking ?
  - rprasad 14y ago
    They can, and many do so if you can prove ownership of the license. Many companies choose not to issue cheap replacements because it is not profitable to do so.
  - wmf 14y ago
    Because they don't want to, obviously. The only exception that I know of is UltraViolet.
jrockway 14y ago
IANAL, but... The goal of DRM is to give you media without the rights granted by copyright law. So it really depends on the contract you have with your content provider. Wikipedia has a list of DMCA exemptions, circumstances under which you are allowed to break the DRM: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Millennium_Copyright_Act#Anti-circumvention_exemptions http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Millennium_Copyright_Ac... But other than that, you have no rights. In the case of non-DRM'd content, your rights seem to be determined on a case-by-case basis. Courts have protected the right to time-shift live TV, but if you lose a CD it's probably illegal for your friend to make a copy of his and give it to you. Some courts have also decided that because your OS's VM layer pages a binary from disk to main memory, creating a copy, to execute software, you aren't allowed to use software without accepting its EULA (which grants you the right to copy the software into memory to execute). Other courts, however, have held the opposite. Again, Wikipedia has a list of relevant cases that you can read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EULA#Enforceability_of_EULAs_in_the_United_States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EULA#Enforceability_of_EULAs_in... (Especially notable is the line, "Recently, publishers have begun to encrypt their software packages to make it impossible for a user to install the software without either agreeing to the license agreement or violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.") The reality is that nobody really knows. The safest route seems to be treating the loss of copyrighted content like any other customer service issue. Call the company that sold you the content and ask for a refund.
jrochkind1 14y ago
I think, honestly, nobody really knows for sure, not even lawyers. The law is unclear (in the US anyway) -- especially when DRM is involved.
noonespecial 14y ago
This always reminded me of the dualistic nature of light. The entertainment industries seem to want the product to behave both as a physical item or a license depending on what benefits them most in any given situation. Lost it? Its a particle. Buy it again, full price. Want to sell it used to your bud? Its a wave. License doesn't transfer. There's my thought of the day: DRM is like a Huygen's slit: the weird interference pattern makes your "purchase" cease to exist in some places.
- jacquesm 14y ago
  What a beautiful insight!

caf 14y ago

I've often wondered what happens when a junkie breaks into my house and steals a CD. Since a license is intagible it shouldn't be possible to physically steal it - so presumably I end up with a license but no copy of the music to play, and the thief (or whoever they sell it to) ends up with a copy of the music but no license to play it?

polymatter 14y ago

(IANAL) If your medium is destroyed you still have a licence, but you do not have a medium in which to exercise that licence. You therefore need to buy a new medium. You are prohibited from making a copy of the medium as that would allow you to distribute it which is braking the terms of your licence.

ekianjo 14y ago
Then why can't the company owning the license provide you a replacement disk/medium at a reduced fee (manufacturing cost only) since you still own the licence, technically speaking ?
- rprasad 14y ago
  They can, and many do so if you can prove ownership of the license. Many companies choose not to issue cheap replacements because it is not profitable to do so.
- wmf 14y ago
  Because they don't want to, obviously. The only exception that I know of is UltraViolet.

jrockway 14y ago

IANAL, but... The goal of DRM is to give you media without the rights granted by copyright law. So it really depends on the contract you have with your content provider. Wikipedia has a list of DMCA exemptions, circumstances under which you are allowed to break the DRM: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Millennium_Copyright_Act#Anti-circumvention_exemptions http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Millennium_Copyright_Ac... But other than that, you have no rights. In the case of non-DRM'd content, your rights seem to be determined on a case-by-case basis. Courts have protected the right to time-shift live TV, but if you lose a CD it's probably illegal for your friend to make a copy of his and give it to you. Some courts have also decided that because your OS's VM layer pages a binary from disk to main memory, creating a copy, to execute software, you aren't allowed to use software without accepting its EULA (which grants you the right to copy the software into memory to execute). Other courts, however, have held the opposite. Again, Wikipedia has a list of relevant cases that you can read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EULA#Enforceability_of_EULAs_in_the_United_States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EULA#Enforceability_of_EULAs_in... (Especially notable is the line, "Recently, publishers have begun to encrypt their software packages to make it impossible for a user to install the software without either agreeing to the license agreement or violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.") The reality is that nobody really knows. The safest route seems to be treating the loss of copyrighted content like any other customer service issue. Call the company that sold you the content and ask for a refund.

jrochkind1 14y ago

I think, honestly, nobody really knows for sure, not even lawyers. The law is unclear (in the US anyway) -- especially when DRM is involved.

noonespecial 14y ago

This always reminded me of the dualistic nature of light. The entertainment industries seem to want the product to behave both as a physical item or a license depending on what benefits them most in any given situation. Lost it? Its a particle. Buy it again, full price. Want to sell it used to your bud? Its a wave. License doesn't transfer. There's my thought of the day: DRM is like a Huygen's slit: the weird interference pattern makes your "purchase" cease to exist in some places.

jacquesm 14y ago
What a beautiful insight!