About 25% of our daily visitors originates from the United States of America, and according to a recent research about 82% of them thinks that making a backup of a CD/DVD or VHS tape is legal. As it clearly says, a backup, not a pirated copy - to sell.
According to the research however, it's not really clear wether making a backup is legal or not and the US law should be changed. A law that could make backups legal would be a fair use law that would allow one copy for personal use.
According to the survey, 82% of U.S. consumers believe it is legal to back up software and prerecorded music CDs. 75% of consumers believe backing up video games is legal and 73% of consumers surveyed believe making backup copies of prerecorded videotapes and DVDs is legal. |
"The reality is that current laws are vague and content companies are pushing for strict control over consumer copying behavior," said Mike McGuire, research director for GartnerG2. "Until laws are passed allowing consumers the right to back up files legally, the uncertainty about lack of basic archiving and backup capabilities will stunt growth of the online media distribution market for the next three to five years."
GartnerG2 analysts said U.S. copyright laws, specifically the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), must be modified to allow consumers to make backup copies of their content.
Of course legislation about this is dangerous, because if it becomes reality the lawmakers could also decide that a personal backup should be forbidden. Read the entire article here.
Source: Storagesearch
