← Back to context

Comment by harha

4 years ago

It’s time for a law that gives you the right to keep pirated copies if you own (as in press the buy button, even if it’s an indefinite rental) the original.

28 comments

harha

Reply
RealStickman_  4 years ago

Movies, like a lot of music, should just be downloadable DRM-free when you purchase it. This would probably increase my spending on movies and series instead of ripping BluRays or finding the right linux iso.

Nextgrid  4 years ago

The law could just be that piracy is not considered "piracy" if you otherwise have a license for the content you're pirating. So it would make it legal to use piracy for format-shifting or working around situations like this one.

  • throw_away23823  4 years ago

    I'm not sure if that would apply to torrents, as you are also effectively sharing content with others while downloading.

    It would be better that the law would require to make the content available for a download, using DRM / encryption that can work offline without any connections to a DRM server. Maybe using a personal encryption key.

    • BLKNSLVR  4 years ago

      Seeders could earn a cut by helping with distribution.

      I believe the onus would be on the downloader to prove they have the original / a license.

acd  4 years ago

Private copy levy alows private copies of content. "A private copying levy (also known as blank media tax or levy) is a government-mandated scheme in which a special tax or levy (additional to any general sales tax) is charged on purchases of recordable media. source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_copying_levy

Sweden has such a private copy law. You pay a tax fee on USB and other storage media such as hard disks but the fee includes the right to make private copies.

"Privatkopieringsersättning"

EU version https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CEL... "(38) Member States should be allowed to provide for an exception or limitation to the reproduction right for certain types of reproduction of audio, visual and audio-visual material for private use, accompanied by fair compensation. This may include the introduction or continuation of remuneration schemes to compensate for the prejudice to rightholders."

  • null_object  4 years ago

    > Sweden has such a private copy law. You pay a tax fee on USB and other storage media such as hard disks but the fee includes the right to make private copies.

    I'm not sure what your view on this law is, but I might add that it's a terrible idea, badly implemented.

    For those of us who use hard disks for data backups, our own music, or large image files (I backup scans of large-format film photographs which can be almost 1GB each), the law taxes us unjustly, and also the distribution of the proceeds is inequitable and doesn't benefit artists or creators, but rather the bureaucracies that administer it.

  • Mindwipe  4 years ago

    The private copy law does not permit you to obtain copies from elsewhere, make copies from a source that was not legally obtained, or to bypass a technical protection measure to make such copies.

PufPufPuf  4 years ago

Czech republic has such a law! You are allowed to create a personal copy of copyrighted media you purchased. IDK if pirating is "making a copy", but it doesn't really matter in Czech republic since piracy is not prosecuted anyways.

koonsolo  4 years ago

As far as I know, Belgium has such a law that you can take a backup copy of the original. That would have been my argument when being sued: "Those are all backups of the original. I lost all the originals, so good thing I took a backup." ;)

  • krageon  4 years ago

    Strictly speaking the backup must be based on what you actually have bought (i.e. if you strip the DRM from your purchase and store that, that's fine). That means you cannot download essentially an identical copy, that's still naughty. I know this is idiotic, but apparently whoever writes laws doesn't know this.