Digital Movies, DVD's and the law
I firmly believe in paying for what I watch - they paid to make it, I should pay to watch it. Completely fair. However, I hate physical media: DVD, Blu-ray, you name it. I'm happy to buy them to pay my royalty to those involved, but my understanding is that despite having paid for the film, in the UK it is illegal to have a ripped or downloaded copy of any movie, regardless of whether or not you own a physical copy.
I thought "Digital Copies" sold in Triple-play packages might be the solution, but they force ridiculous limitations, like tying it to one computer for the rest of forever. I'm not going to have one computer for the rest of forever, rendering it useless.
So my question is, is there a robust, legal means for me to be able to carry my movies on my hard drive (for travelling and suchlike) given that I am more than happy to pay, and even pay a premium, for the privilege?
I understand this is quasi-legal in the states, but generally falls into a grey area.
Best Answer
Currently the best legal method to own a digital copy of a movie is to go through UltraViolet. I know this service is probably not as robust as you are looking for but it is currently the standard backed by most of the major production groups and is slowly expanding as new movies are released to DVD. The only problem that I was unable to find out is if this service is available in the UK as I did not see it explicitly listed in the Terms of Service or their FAQ.
Pictures about "Digital Movies, DVD's and the law"
Is it legal to make a copy of a DVD for personal use?
Title 17 of the United States Code says that it is illegal to reproduce a copyrighted work. If a DVD comes with a box or has a label on it indicating a copyright, then it is technically illegal to make any copies of it for any reason. Many people wonder if it is legal to rip a copy of a DVD for personal use.What can you do with a digital copy of a movie?
The Digital Copy can be transferred to a Windows PC or Macintosh and viewed with Windows Media Player or iTunes. You can also transfer the movie to an iPod, Apple TV or a compatible Windows Media-based portable player. To make this happen, you pop the Digital Copy disc into your DVD drive.Can you sell the digital copy of movie?
You can watch the item as often as you want, but the terms specify that you can't \u201csell, rent, lease, distribute, publicly perform or display, broadcast, sublicense or otherwise assign any right to the Content to any third party.\u201d You probably already know this: Just because you purchased and downloaded a movie doesn't ...Can I download a digital copy of a movie I own?
You can only get the digital copy of the same movie that you bought in DVD or Blu-ray. The digital copy will also match the quality of your DVD or Blu-ray copy, so if you bought a DVD in SD quality, your digital copy will also be in SD.Digitize Your DVD Movie Collection
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