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DeCSS, Backups of legally purchased DVD's and Irish Law?

  • 11-08-2005 10:32am
    #1
    Inquitus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,763 ✭✭✭✭


    Posted this in Computers, but now have noticed this new forum which is where this question belongs.

    I routinely backup my DVD's due to my 1 year old daughters propensity for destroying them at every opportunity.

    I DeCSS them using the Likes of DVD Decrypter and either save them to HD or shrink them to fit a single layer DVD.

    Anyways I purchased Season 4 of the Tv Drama 24 the other day and noted that it had a UK warning at the start that stated that it was illegal to crack the copyright encryption on the DVD, whether I owned it or not. Is this also true here in Ireland? and whatever happened to Fair Use? Even itunes allows you to make 5 copies of a tune FFS!

    Inqui


Comments

  • #2
    Fergal Crehan
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6 ✭Fergal Crehan


    To answer your questions, firstly, yes, it is also the case in Ireland. secondly, Fair Use is an American doctrine, which arose out of the more robust freedom of speech tradition in the US courts. As such, it doesn't apply to Ireland or the UK. The fact that iTunes allows you to make back-ups is just a dispensation granted by iTunes, not a right conferred by the law. In other words, it's a privelege, not a right (now, don't you feel priveleged?).

    In practice though, there's not really much that anyone can do to stop you backing up DVDs, particularly given that it's for private use.


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