Aaargh! Netflix!

[aloofman]

that's his point, i think. he takes it out from the library and simply has it pre-ripped onto his harddrive so he doesn't have to even put it in when he has it out.

even if it's not out of the library, it's a freely available public resource, as it's at the library, and as long as he's not burning and distributing copies, you can make a very strong case that using/ripping a DVD like that is totally legal under fair use.

it may not be in the spirit of the law, but it would be pretty hard for anyone to actually win a court case against you for that kind of usage.

That's assuming he only uses it like he would with the library copy: to watch it for a brief time and not keep it indefinitely.

 

[Ugg]

umm no it not with in fair useage rights. it is agaist the law to rip that DVD you got from the libary. You dont own it. The libary does. It would be the same as you taking a DVD from a friend and ripping it (also agaist the law).

You are only really allowed to that if you OWN the DVD and you PAID for the DVD. Like it would need to be on your shelf at home for you to be allowed to use fair useage law and rip it.

I have every right to copy a book from the library as well as Music CDs, repair manuals, etc. etc. Movies are no exception to this rule. The library is a publicly funded entity. As long as I don't distribute the movie or show it for profit, I'm within my legal rights of fair use. This holds especially true for educational material. This would not hold true if I had rented it from Netflix.

That's assuming he only uses it like he would with the library copy: to watch it for a brief time and not keep it indefinitely.

Exactly. The very nature of the DVD means that it's impossible to watch it just once in order to learn what's on it. Of course, I could just keep renewing it but that seems sort of silly.

I've ripped audiobooks from the library and put them on my iPod. Most of the time I'll just listen once but in some cases, the material can't be consumed in one sitting.

 

[aloofman]

I have every right to copy a book from the library as well as Music CDs, repair manuals, etc. etc. Movies are no exception to this rule. The library is a publicly funded entity. As long as I don't distribute the movie or show it for profit, I'm within my legal rights of fair use. This holds especially true for educational material. This would not hold true if I had rented it from Netflix.



Exactly. The very nature of the DVD means that it's impossible to watch it just once in order to learn what's on it. Of course, I could just keep renewing it but that seems sort of silly.

I've ripped audiobooks from the library and put them on my iPod. Most of the time I'll just listen once but in some cases, the material can't be consumed in one sitting.

No, I mean the spirit of fair use (if not the letter) is that you're using a copy of something you already have viewing rights to, like burning an iTunes CD of songs you already own. Copying something from the library and then keeping that copy as if you own it is NOT fair use. It isn't just a matter of not distributing it or charging someone for it. It can't replace something that you would normally have to pay for.

In theory, you could rip the DVD and watch the copy on your hard drive, but you could only keep that copy for as long as you borrowed the original library version. Anything beyond that is piracy.