4 ms·

Aren't media backups, including DVDs, already legal under Fair Use? Is there any legal precedent to the contrary?

• sinak 14y ago
  Circumventing the security measures that protect them is illegal under the DMCA, even though it's not actually copyright infringement. Section 1201, the circumvention provision, is specifically what we're trying to get fixed.
  • shmerl 14y ago
    It is not illegal when it's fair use. But this DMCA section shifts the burden on those who break the DRM (i.e. to prove that something is fair use) instead of keeping the burden on those who should prove that certain action is not fair use.
    • ncallaway 14y ago
      I'm not disagreeing with you, but asking for my own edification. I can't find (or am misinterpreting what I can find) in the DMCA that makes it legal for fair use. The main portion I'm trying to interpret is 17 USC S 1201 (a) (1) (A): "No person shall circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under this title. The prohibition contained in the preceding sentence shall take effect at the end of the 2-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this chapter." I'm not finding another section that creates a fair use section. Does the phrase "protected under this title" create the fair use exemption? Or is there some judicial precedent that I'm missing?
      • shmerl 14y ago
        I think fair use makes it legal point blank. DMCA can't override it (DMCA contradicts fair use directly). But this can be open to interpretation by judges and etc. - would be good to hear some clarification from experts.
• shmerl 14y ago
  It is legal under fair use, however DMCA makes it guilty until proven otherwise. I.e. you'll have to defend your fair use. Forget the presumption of innocence. The fix will reverse the things to how they are ought to be, and even more - will simply make any circumvention legal, which it should be. It's redistribution without permission that is illegal, not the circumvention.