FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - CBP officer gave me a stern warning that my laptop shouldn't have ripped DVD/Blu-ray
Old May 12, 2010, 4:29 pm
  #4  
greentips
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
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Posts: 867
Fair use doctrine

When you answer their questions, you give them something to be used against you. So, don't answer their questions. You own it, proof is available in the appropriate forum and you're happy to provide the proof which is available at another location. How stuff got there is not their concern. Their only concern: did you infringe? answer: no. Nothing further need be said.

According to the Fair Use Doctrine, you are allowed to make personal, non-infringing copies. The Digital Millenium Copyright Act made it illegal to make and distribute certain software to copy them in the US, but it is not against the law to copy the disks you've paid for under the fair use doctrine that goes back to a lawsuit against Sony for Betamax recordings.

A lay synopsis is included in a US News report here. Taken to its logical conclusion, the DMCA outlaws UNIX/LINUX/FreeBSD/MacOSX, since none of those operating systems care about their copy protection schemes.

Their "directives" to "crack down" on lawful activities are limited to the means by which things got put on the disk, not the fact that the copies exist. Hollywood, of course, would like that to not be the case, but under Sect. 107 has 4 clauses that taken together determine if the copy is a fair use exception. Customs inspectors are not qualified to determine if the material is a fair use or not. You paid for the right to view the movie when you bought the DVD, you do not need the permission of the owner to use that right as you see fit as long as you do not allow someone else to have a copy of your copy. Just because they issue a directive does not make the directive legal, compliant with regulation and just because a regulation has been issued doesn't make it compliant with the law or the many nuances of case law.

I use itunes and download music. I also do not trust my laptop to be safe from thieves, customs agents or Thieving-Sneaky-Operatives or itself. Therefore, I make CDs of everyone of the itunes works I download and it goes into the archive. Just in case. I am allowed to do this as it will not affect one dime of revenue to the industry. Judges have ruled the reverse is true.

I'll check with my patent lawyer who is very clever on these matters or perhaps PTravel will voice a thought or two.

Last edited by greentips; May 12, 2010 at 4:40 pm Reason: fixed Copyright Act limitation section
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