Until recently, the majority of consumers actually have got on quite well with most copy protected music and movies, so long as they have used standalone equipment such as CD and DVD players. However, it is not until the consumer is faced with software protected with an End User License Agreement (EULA) to play their content that the combination of the two turns quite nasty, such as Sony's combination turning into disaster.
Up until software started being put on music CDs, these were sold just like with books for example, however by incorporating an EULA on the discs means that the music is now being licensed just like with any other PC software. Beforehand, one was freely entitled to do anything they want with their music, so long as they don't violate its copyright restrictions. Examples of legal uses in most countries include editing, private performances, loaning to a friend and even private copying. By forcing the user to install software and agree to its EULA in order to play the disc on a PC, this essentially ruins one's rights over their music as this time they are are restricted to the more strict license agreement as well as the usual copyright restrictions.
For example, with a standard audio CD, most countries allow one to make a personal backup copy of the disc to protect against the original ever becoming misplaced or stolen. According to Sony's EULA, if one loses their CD, the license states that they are obliged to destroy any content (including music) that was sourced from the CD. The EULA also prohibits the playing of the CD at work as well as editing the music, all that can be done with standard CDs beforehand. Finally, the EULA entitles the content provider to use techniques to prevent the user from getting around their copy protection, not to mention protecting the provider from any liability that their software may cause, such as data loss, PC crashes, security risks and so on. By Sony abusing this to the worst possible extent so far, they are already facing legal action over this.
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As the storm over Sony's rootkit-installing DRM continues to rage, Fred von Lohmann of the Electronic Frontier Foundation yesterday posted a blog item about the EULA that now comes with those Sony CDs. It's important to keep in mind, he points out, that the music is sold, not licensed. "You own it outright," von Lohmann writes. "You're allowed to do anything with it you like, so long as you don't violate one of the exclusive rights reserved to the copyright owner. So you can play the CD at your next dinner party (copyright owners get no rights over private performances), you can loan it to a friend (thanks to the 'first sale' doctrine), or make a copy for use on your iPod (thanks to 'fair use'). Every use that falls outside the limited exclusive rights of the copyright owner belongs to you, the owner of the CD." But if you want to play the CD on your computer, under the Sony EULA all those rights are "licensed" away. As von Lohmann notes, if your CD is stolen, Sony's licensing rules would require you to erase any of the music you still have on your computer. Playing the music on your computer at work is prohibited, as is taking it with you out of the country (unless it's to the European Economic Area). And of the course the EULA does not allow any altering, changing, or making derivatives works from the music, even those that clearly fall under fair use. The full article can be read here. |
So far, there is very little copy protected content available that can be played on a PC without agreeing to some form of license agreement first. For example, even the iTunes package's EULA must be agreed to in order to install this, not to mention playing music purchased from its online store. However, by allowing the record labels to start incorporating software with EULA's which must be installed to play the disc means that they can place all sorts of licensing restrictions upon the consumer, since the music effectively becomes licensed instead of sold to the user.
Chances are that sometime down the line, all music will include some form of software based copy protection in order to protect the content. In my opinion, it is already bad enough to see the control of Blu-ray hardware firmware updates being given to the content providers such that new movie releases on Blu-ray media can contain updated firmware for drives to replace the firmware of drives who's copy protection has been compromised. Then again, chances are that te discs in this case will not contain an EULA. However, the user will likely be forced to allow these firmware updates to take place in order to play the disc, much like how some PSP games require the user to install the latest firmware in order to play the game.
Source: Info World
