CD/DVD Copyright

[stratisphere]

Morning people.

 

I've had a quick search but cant find anything solid and i'm kinda in a rush.

 

We've got a member of staff who would like to do two things:

a) They want to rip CD's to the shared area... apparently for educational reasons (not sure if thats true or not).

b) They want to put "dvd rips" (although I know for a fact that they are downloaded movies) on the network/school laptops even if she claims she has the original DVD.

 

Now, in both cases, my common sense says bugger off. I'm pretty sure it's illegal under copyright todo both.

 

Can anyone comfirm this and/or quote the relevent passage from what ever law I can use?

[LeMarchand]

There's a good deal of confusion over this, as in the USA it is legal to make "back up" copies. However, in the UK it is illegal to make any sort of copy of copyrighted work without the permission of the copyright holder (except for computer games - probably a throwback to the days when they were on cassette tape!). In theory, this even extends to ripping CDs to your mp3 player!

 

I did read something a while back that there were rumblings in the UK that the law should be changed, but nothing has happened yet.

 

So your teacher is wrong. Point her at: The UK Copyright Service, in particular:

 

Restricted acts

 

It is an offence to perform any of the following acts without the consent of the owner:

 

Copy the work.

 

Rent, lend or issue copies of the work to the public.

 

There are educational exemptions, but not for the sort of thing she wants. The full act is Here (point her at it, she'll soon get bored) the relevant passages being:

 

32 Things done for purposes of instruction or examination

 

(1) Copyright in a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work is not infringed by its being copied in the course of instruction or of preparation for instruction, provided the copying—

 

(a) is done by a person giving or receiving instruction, and

 

(b) is not by means of a reprographic process.

 

(2) Copyright in a sound recording, film, broadcast or cable programme is not infringed by its being copied by making a film or film sound-track in the course of instruction, or of preparation for instruction, in the making of films or film sound-tracks, provided the copying is done by a person giving or receiving instruction.

 

(My emphasis{es?}). So putting stuff in any public area is a no-no.

 

Teachers do seem to think that copyright law doesn't apply to them, don't they?

[stratisphere]

excellent! Thanks, thats perfect!!

[Geoff]

Also you should point out that the penalty for breaking copyright law is a maximum of 10 years in jail and an unlimited fine. Might ruin ones career that.

 

Oh and if they play the 'but they'll never find out' card. Point out how little you get paid compared to them, then point out that the BPI offer bounties for grassing people up.

[stratisphere]

rofl... noted!

[notknown]

There are educational exemptions, but not for the sort of thing she wants

 

 

So it can be done for legitimate educational reasons? If the dvd is of educational value and is owned by the person or the department?

 

Am new to the forum and this issue has also been raised in my school as a history teacher wants to put a copy of schindlers list on the network - they do have a department copy so it isnt infingement right??

 

Copyright issues can be mindblowing!!

[GrumbleDook]

As pointed out above you *cannot* rip DVDs, but there are music purchases you can make that allow you to store music electronically and centrally.

 

audionetworks is an example of this.

 

Search for Creative Commons and music as an example.

[Andrew_C]

A history teacher wants to put a copy of schindlers list on the network - they do have a department copy so it isnt infingement right??

Wrong. However, if you have an ERA licence (to record TV) you can put a copy recorded from the recent broadcast on your network. Or you can legitimately get a copy of the broadcast from another ERA licensed school.

[LeMarchand]

So it can be done for legitimate educational reasons? If the dvd is of educational value and is owned by the person or the department?

 

No, as it wouldn't be just for the person who made the copy. I suspect that any such exemptions would be over-ruled by the standard copyright notice which states (taken from my copy of Schindler's):

 

Unauthorised copying, hiring, lending, public performance, radio or TV broadcasting of this DVD is prohibited.

 

Besides which I'm 90% sure that it is illegal to circumvent any anti-copy features on a disc, and would be very surprised if you could just stick in a copy of Schindler's and just press "copy" using "legitimate" software.

 

P.S. Tell them not to be so tight, Play are doing Schindler's for a fiver. (Of course, teacher's can't be trusted not to lose the discs/scratch them because they can't be bothered to put them away properly).

Edited May 3, 2008 by LeMarchand
Afterthought

[notknown]

Thanks for the help here guys

 

So, if I now understand this right - if you record from a tv broadcast and have an ERA liscence it is possible to that recording on the network, without breaking any rules? So perhaps if one of them has a video copy from the tv I could transfer through a tv card that maybe?

 

There are 5 members of the history department that do the same topics at the same time and their budget was cut (as probably with most Nottingham schools) so 5 copies of each dvd can get expensive. They are a nice crew so I would like to help. Mind it is starting to sound like a lot of work perhaps I should just refer him to play.com lol

[GrumbleDook]

When looking at copying or using materials that have been recorded from certain *free-to-air* channels then please look at the ERA website in particular ERA Plus when looking at digitally storing the material.

 

ERA is the place to look for this part of the question.

[mac_shinobi]

if you had purchased a book and x amount of time passes whether that be a week or a few months and you spilt some drink on the book, you wouldn't be like oh darn its illegal for me to dry the book out i had better go out and buy another book otherwise I will be breaking copy right law because I have altered the book.

 

For the sake of arguement and hyperthetically ( if this was truely a dvd that the person did own ) ie you buy a dvd for your kids and you know what kids are like with regards to looking after items ( at least for the most part ) you would make one backup copy and let them use the backup copy and keep the original disc in a safe place.

 

I can see where they are coming from with regards to getting around the css or copy right side but its not like any of us are intentionally breaking it so we can alter the contents of the disc , it would just be for the purpose of making a backup copy so that you did not have to keep forking out money each time a disc got scratched.

[localzuk]

if you had purchased a book and x amount of time passes whether that be a week or a few months and you spilt some drink on the book, you wouldn't be like oh darn its illegal for me to dry the book out i had better go out and buy another book otherwise I will be breaking copy right law because I have altered the book.

 

For the sake of arguement and hyperthetically ( if this was truely a dvd that the person did own ) ie you buy a dvd for your kids and you know what kids are like with regards to looking after items ( at least for the most part ) you would make one backup copy and let them use the backup copy and keep the original disc in a safe place.

 

I can see where they are coming from with regards to getting around the css or copy right side but its not like any of us are intentionally breaking it so we can alter the contents of the disc , it would just be for the purpose of making a backup copy so that you did not have to keep forking out money each time a disc got scratched.

 

That's all well and good, but the law is still against you. Until they change it anyway.

[Ben_Stanton]

What laws (all of them) are broken when doing this;

 

Mr Ben, can you cut the first 19 seconds off track one for us to use for our dance exam???

[enjay]

Remember not to confuse the issue of 'backup copies' and 'copies'. A backup copy is made and put in a drawer never to see the light of day, and is (I think!) legal in the UK. A copy which is duplicated 5 times and passed round the department (or put on the network) is not okay.

 

MP3s which the school has bought can (again, I think!) be put on the network without issue, but it does need to be the school that owns the song, not the teacher. If the teacher wanted to give their bought MP3s to the school, they could, but they must get rid of their copies of them.

 

As for your dance exam question, address that to the exam board. Our A-Level Music students have to do a comparison/critique/dissertation thing on two performances of the same piece of music, and the exam board asks that we send them the exact recordings to which the students refer. Ordinarily, this would obviously be illegal, however apparently the exam board have some dispensation for this use - your dance exam may be the same.

[flyinghaggis]

To the best of my knowledge in the UK at the moment (for individuals at least) backing up music CDs or making copies of anything is illegal and a breach of copyright law. In order to back up a (copyrighted) DVD you'd have to break the encryption on it which would breack the DCMA and would also be illegal. Generally when it comes to making MP3's from CD's or copying them to cd/tape it's one of those things that music companies 'tolerate' for home/personal use but according to the letter of UK law it is still illegal.

 

The only thing I'm not 100% certain about is what kind of rights you have as a school/educational institution regarding taking copies of entire/parts of recordings/movies for educations purposes.

 

It would be useful if someone could find a definite answer as to what rights schools have as unless we have something in writing exempting educational establishments (I'm sure there must be some as there are for books/publications/etc) for music/video making any kind of copy of a DVD/CD is illegal regardless of the purpose AFAIK.

[enjay]

The only thing I'm not 100% certain about is what kind of rights you have as a school/educational institution regarding taking copies of entire/parts of recordings/movies for educations purposes.

 

As I understand it, the copying is the legal issue, not the possession or use - therefore speak to the Departments and see if it must be on the network or if they could show it from the DVD. That would, AFAIK, be okay all round (so long as it is for educational reasons, anyway).

[Andrew_C]

In order to back up a (copyrighted) DVD you'd have to break the encryption on it which would break the DCMA and would also be illegal.

Breaking the DCMA is only illegal in the USA (Whatever the RIAA & Hollywood think) as it is a piece of U$ law. It may also be illegal here, but that is not the relevant act.

 

Search Results - THOMAS (Library of Congress)

[ICT_GUY]

Funny enough they dont like it when you point out that piracy is not theft, its copyright infringement a civil offence not a criminal one.

[ICT_GUY]

Wiki so probably 70% true. Ididn't know the first bit about computer misuse act.

 

British law

In British Law, any modification of data stored on a computer so that unauthorised access is gained to software packages, games, movies, and music would be a criminal offence under §3 Computer Misuse Act 1990. So, if a read-only music CD is placed in a PC drive and the contents loaded into the computer's memory for playing, any application that allows the music to be copied and stored on the machine or an MP3 player would commit the offence in theory but, so far, there have been no prosecutions on this set of facts. More generally, §16 and 20 Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988 (as amended by the Copyright, however this does grant the right to create backup copies of software, so that the original can be kept safe from damage, technically meaning companies must provide either additional discs or the means to overcome any copy protection. and Trade Marks (Offences and Enforcement) Act 2002) cover copyrighted materials, and people who distribute and download copyrighted recordings without permission are liable to face civil actions for damages and penalties (the largest to date is £6,500, or $12,120.55). As in the United States, the enforcement agencies were able to identify the IP addresses and the ISPs were obliged to disclose the name and address of the owner of each such internet account but legislation was passed recently so that it isn't compulsory to hand over the information.[citation needed]

 

A 2006 survey carried out for the National Consumer Council indicated that over half of British adults infringe copyright law by copying and ripping music CDs, with 59% stating a belief that copying for personal use is legal.[39] However, ripping music from CDs to another format, such as MP3, is currently illegal. In 2006 The Institute for Public Policy Research called for a "public right to copy".[40] In January 2008 the government proposed changes to copyright law that would legalise copying for personal use.[41]

 

 

[edit] Criminal offences

For the most part, the criminal law is only used for commercial copyright infringement with one exception[citation needed], and an offence is committed when knowing or reasonably suspecting that the files are illegal copies[citation needed], and without the permission of the copyright owner, a person:

 

makes unauthorised copies e.g. burning music files or films on to CD-Rs or DVD-Rs;

distributes, sells or hires out unauthorised copies of CDs, VCDs and DVDs;

on a larger scale, distributes unauthorised copies as a commercial enterprise on the internet;

possesses unauthorised copies with a view to distributing, selling or hiring these to other people;

while not dealing commercially, distributes unauthorised copies of software packages, books, music, games, and films on such a scale as to have a measurable impact on the copyright owner's business;

publishing someone else's original copy work and claiming you have made it. (This is known as plagiarism and is completely different from copyright infringement, but laws concerning it come under the section of copyright law in some countries);

certain copyrights allow Archival copies of software to be made however these are not to be distributed.

The penalties for these "copyright infringement" offences depend on the seriousness of the offences:

 

before a magistrates' Court, the penalties for distributing unauthorised files are a maximum fine of £5,000 and/or six months imprisonment;

in the Crown Court, the penalties for distributing unauthorised files are an unlimited fine and/or up to 10 years imprisonment.

Also note §24 Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003 which creates a range of offences relating to the distribution of any device, product or component which is primarily designed, produced, or adapted for the purpose of enabling or facilitating the circumvention of effective technological measures. When this is for non-commercial purposes, it requires there to be a measurable effect on the rights holder's business.