Showing a DVD online to my friend.
- March 29, 2006 @ 8:58pmbashash says:Hi,
I want to know if i can show a movie online to my friend, is it legall?
Here is the scenario:
I bought a DVD and on the cover it says "for rental or resale".
I am converting this DVD to a format that is not downloadable and I will put in to my website with restricted user name and password.
Only my friend is going to watch this movie, noone else is going to see that movie in the same time.
Is this Kind of renting?
My friend is going to watch this movie at home, so No Public Domain is required for that.
Am I right?
Please help on this.
Appreciate it. - March 30, 2006 @ 8:03amRDavis says:Hello,
Your activity implictes two of the copyright owner's exclusive rights -- not just their right to publicly perform the work, but also their right to make copies of the work. The fact that you're streaming the video or presenting it in some other non-downloadable format may help when it comes to infringement of the public performance right, but in order to do this you're going to have to make a copy of the work. The DVD might say "for rental or resale," but that would really only apply when you transfer possession of your physical copy of the DVD to someone else. So in order to do what you're proposing without the copyright owner's permission (to copy and perform the work by means of a digital transmission) you'll have to look to fair use or some other limitation to copyright.
I don't personally think this would pass muster as fair use. It sounds as though the purpose of the use is entertainment, the nature of the work is highly creative, you're using the whole amount of the work, and there is an adverse market effect since your use could replace a sale of a copy of the work. The fact that the film is a published work, you're restricting access by password and the film will only be in a nondownloadable format counts in your favor, but not enough to tip the scales in favor of fair use, in my opinion.
This does raise an interesting question, though. The law defines the public (as in public performance) as "a substantial number of persons outside of a normal circle of a family and its social acquaintances." And it says a public performance includes transmitting a performance of a work "by means of any device or process" to the public regardless of whether those people receive it "in the same place or in separate places and at the same time or different times" (Sec. 101, Title 17, U.S.C.). Since your friend could be seen as being within a normal circle of a family and its social acquaintances, perhaps this type of transmission wouldn't count as a "public" performance. Posting something on the Web is public, but limiting access via password makes it considerably less public (assuming your distribution of the password is truly limited to family and friends). So if your use of the work didn't also involve making an unauthorized copy of it, then perhaps you could argue that your use is noninfringing. However, given how concerned the film and recorded music industry is about protecting their copyrights in the digital era, I don't believe I'd want to be the test case! - March 30, 2006 @ 8:15amwilliamsonl says:One other consideration--effect on the market. When considering this factor, it't not whether what you do would effect the market, but the question has to be applied as"what if everyone did this?" In you case, you are only potentially keeping one copy from being purchased, but if everyone made a copy for a friend, this would have an effect on the market. This factor, along with RDavis' points, weighs against fair use.
- March 30, 2006 @ 8:49amCOvalle says:I have a bit of a different take, although I think I reach the same conclusion. I wouldn't advise it.
This type of copying is not allowed under regular copyright law. You'd need to rely on fair use. For the most part, I agree with everything said above in the fair use analysis. I do not believe this could be considered a public performance (but it would be even less of one if the stream was encrypted).
1) Purpose of copying: Entertainment, against fair use.
2) Nature of the work: Highly creative (presumably), against fair use.
3) Amount of the work: All of it, against fair use.
4) Effect on the market: This is where I disagree a bit. I think the effect on the market is miniscule. I don't think the effect on the market in this situation is sufficent to rule against fair use for this factor. We can lend out books to friends, and we can copy analog materials for friends (like in the creation of a mix tape). We can also copy some digital audio materials for friends under the Audio Home Recording Act (although that particularly exemption is rarely used in day to day activities, I've seen, because of it's limited scope). Those actions are considered private actions, and often not infringing. Digital is what makes this complex, because you retain the initial copy and the law is stricter with digital materials. I don't believe the potential loss of one sale is all that important (because one loss is not particularly significant, that loss is not guaranteed, and this act may lead to purchase which could swing the effect the other way).
However, the effect on the market doesn't outweigh the other factors in my opinion, so overall the use would still not be fair. - March 30, 2006 @ 10:33ambashash says:Thanks for your help,
Assuming I copy the DVD to my computer legally:
1- When we buy a DVD, if we pay $10, $2 is for the hard copy of the DVD and $8 is for the single license.
Is it possible if I transfer this license to my computer, ripping it to the computer and destroy the hard copy?
2- Download the movie legally, so I have one copy of the movie on my computer.
When my friend is watching the movie, there is only him watching it, not even myself.
This is kind of virtually renting.
And you said it is against fair use, what do you suggest to make it fair use?
Because as far as I am concerned there is no copyright for this case, as you can do anything you want with your legal copy of DVD (renting or resale)(USC 17 section 109). - March 30, 2006 @ 11:27amCOvalle says:That's not entirely accurate. You can't do absolutely whatever you want- for example, you can't publicly perform or copy however many times you want. The doctrine of first sale says that you can do whatever you want with that legitimately purchased copy, including lending, renting, selling, etc., but that doesn't cover the creation of additional copies. It gets more complicated in this situation.
The problem is, the doctrine of first sale (109) might not cover digital copies that you purchase or otherwise legally obtain, because at this point in time there is some pretty extreme disagreement and conflicting rulings about whether or not first sale exists with digital objects. The issue is that, when you "transfer" a digitial object you are always technically making a copy. In testimony the Registrar of Copyright doesn't think that first sale of digital objects exists. So that's an issue.
As far as your assumptions, unless they are explicitly stated somewhere they're not necessarily valid. When you buy a DVD, you are buying a physical object. You can do whatever you want with that physical object. Unless it says that you are buying both a hard copy and a usage license, you're not getting those two things separately. Now, you may be able to copy for personal use- space shifting- but that doesn't mean that you can use that copy for nonpersonal reason. Copying to computer and/or destroying the original hard copy does not mean that you have a license for that copy on your computer, unless the original license explicitly states that you do.
[quote]Thanks for your help,
Assuming I copy the DVD to my computer legally:
1- When we buy a DVD, if we pay $10, $2 is for the hard copy of the DVD and $8 is for the single license.
Is it possible if I transfer this license to my computer, ripping it to the computer and destroy the hard copy?
2- Download the movie legally, so I have one copy of the movie on my computer.
When my friend is watching the movie, there is only him watching it, not even myself.
This is kind of virtually renting.
And you said it is against fair use, what do you suggest to make it fair use?
Because as far as I am concerned there is no copyright for this case, as you can do anything you want with your legal copy of DVD (renting or resale)(USC 17 section 109).[/quote] - March 30, 2006 @ 12:12pmbashash says:Thanks again for your reply,
What if, i was to show one DVD to a friend and the same DVD, but another copy to another friend. Both with unique user names and passwords but i was to charge them a small fee.
Would i still have to pay a royalty and if i needed a usage license, where would i get this from?
Would it make a difference if i was to purchase a separate DVD, or would this be defeating the purpose and the most significant thing would be to have a usage license?
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