Copyright Office Eases Rules on DVD Security
November 23, 2006 in DVD, digital video news, editing by Josh
The Library of Congress’s Copyright Office on Wednesday granted an exemption to film professors, allowing them to break the copy-protection codes on DVDs in order to create compilations of movie clips for their classes. Although such compilations are permitted under "fair use" interpretation of the copyright law, breaking the CSS security code is not. Studios had argued that the professors could use VHS tapes of the same films, but the professors countered that such tapes are often not available and those that are lack the quality of the DVDs. The ruling — along with others dealing with copyright law handed down by the Copyright Office on Wednesday — was welcomed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a consumers’ group, but Fred von Lohmann, an attorney with the group, commented that he was disappointed that the office had rejected a petition that would have allowed owners of DVDs to copy their movies on the iPods and other portable players.
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Studios still don’t get it though…they’re always fighting the flow of progress. I would have invested in many more DVDs over the years if I thought they would be a viable format to start collecting on. But with their petty region locks and copy protection it seemed like a waste. It’s the same reason I don’t buy DRM-protected music from the iTunes store and instead buy CDs which I later rip to MP3. If companies spent the effort making purchases convenient rather than restricting the medium of distribution, they’d probably make more money AND keep customers happy. Who wants to buy media you can’t truly own, back up, or share with a friend?
Good points.
