 DVD
Burning: Is it Legal?
by Steve Bishop
DVD Burning: Is it Legal?
When it comes to DVD burning, many people have questions and
concerns. Some people may be performing illegal acts without
realizing it. Other people may be afraid of doing something
that is against the law. So we are going to clear it all up
once and for all.
Just like copying music files from the internet, DVD burning
is a highly controversial process. Many people may be very confused
as to whether or not what they are doing is legal. In the past,
there have been several products designed to help the consumer
make back up copies of their DVDs. However, in February of 2004,
the laws on this changed and many companies were no longer allowed
by law to sell their software copy programs.
Burning a copy of the DVD you have purchased for personal use
has long been accepted as legal. People did it for many years.
The fair-use doctrine of the U.S. copyright law accepted that
back up copies for personal use were okay. However, the DMCA
(Digital Millennium Copyright Act) that stated that it is illegal
to break the CSS copy protection mechanism that is on most commercial
DVDs. So technically, the law does not state that it is illegal
to make copies of movies. It does however; state that it is
illegal to circumvent the anti-piracy technology.
So DVD burning products that ripped the movies coding were considered
illegal. New ripper-free versions of software were created but
these do not usually work on commercial DVDs. For now, the law
basically states that you can not make a copy of a commercial
DVD, even if that copy is intended as a backup for personal
use. You certainly can not give that copy to anyone else or
sell it or distribute it in any way.
There is a lot of software out there that surpasses the copy-protection
schemes on store-bought DVDs and will allow you to make copies
but you should be aware that you use these at your own risk
because the law could charge you in violation of intellectual
property laws.
There are however, legal DVD burning programs for unprotected
discs such as your own home movies. These disc burning programs
can also help you burn your home movies from VHS to DVD. If
you purchase your software from the internet, you may want to
be careful to make sure you are purchasing legal software. You
would not want to become the subject of a legal situation later.
About the Author
If you would like to get started with DVD copying then go now
to http://www.dvd-burning.org to discover how you can make your
first dvd in minutes! |
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