Is It Legal to Sell Digital Copies of Movies

Both cases illustrate cases of theft called “digital piracy”. However, some argue that copyright laws have gone too far and that consumers should have more “fair dealing” rights to access and reproduce copyrighted works. Understand how digital copies included in movies work. I got off the phone and probably didn`t,” says Jim Burger, a lawyer who specializes in licensing intellectual property and entertainment content. As a consumer, says Burger, “UV access codes represent the purchase of a set of rights to download copies of movies to play on authorized devices or to stream the movies.” Recently, the film industry has installed a security code on most DVDs. It prevents them from being copied to VCRs and computers. Although the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 makes this illegal, hackers can bypass the security code. This allows you to digitally copy and transfer unauthorized DVD movies over the internet. www.ebay.com/help/policies/prohibited-restricted-items/replicas-counterfeit-items-unauthorized-copies-policy?id=4276 this understanding: “Digital codes can be used over and over again, so many people get free copies of the film that can be sold over and over again.

Digital copies are not a separate part of the film copy. Um, never bought a movie with a digital copy, right? As many already know, a digital copy of a film is a one-time code. You can use it on multiple platforms you own, such as laptop, pad, and smartphone as “shared media.” But that`s about it. It has been common for years to break down new versions in order to sell the DVD separately from the Blu-ray separately from the 3D separate from the digital code. There was never any question of whether or not it was copyright infringement simply because they are all legitimate versions of every supposed film that contain them. There are sellers who live from the breakdown of new publications into their parts. There is no piracy here, no one “makes illegal copies”, we only sell what is contained in a legally purchased copy of the film. I await an appeal against the decision, and I hope that more informed minds will prevail and restore everyone`s right to sell the digital copy without fear of withdrawal or suspension of membership.

Please note that the sale of digital copies is currently under investigation. Essentially, he continues, “the use of the UV code is governed by the UV license, which allows the drive owner to access digital content in the cloud and does not allow resale of the service.” Unlike used discs and other packaged media, the transfer of such a license is unlikely to be protected by the “first-sale doctrine” of U.S. copyright law, says Burger, a member of the Washington-based law firm Dow Lohnes. Currently, the law sets the duration of most copyrights to the life of the author plus 70 years (95 years in total for films). After that, the work falls into the public domain and anyone can copy and distribute it. A more likely scenario is that a media company goes bankrupt. In this case, the most likely course is that another company will buy the digital media portion of the business and transfer your right to view the content you purchased. This has already happened with Vudu, which was owned by Walmart for more than a decade and is now owned by Fandango Media, a company itself owned by NBCUniversal and WarnerMedia.

owned by Comcast and AT&T, respectively. It has long been recognized that consumers do not violate U.S. copyright law when selling Blu-ray discs they have already purchased. But is it legal for consumers to keep the drives they buy and sell the included UltraViolet passcodes? So, no, you don`t own your digital files, and theoretically, you could eventually be prevented from viewing or listening to them. In reality, your digital collection is likely to be safe for the foreseeable future – but if the mere thought of a company excluding you from your movies and music makes you angry, we recommend taking advantage of physical media such as Blu-rays and 4K CDs that are likely to survive any digital media apocalypse. You cannot treat the code and disc as two “copies” of the movie. Somewhere in the fine print, this is explained. The purpose of the code is to provide you with a convenient alternative to ripping a movie. It is not allowed in the license to give the code to a friend and keep the disc; You must transfer all your copies in one unit or destroy any additional copies you own each time you transfer ownership of the film. A handful of bids for UltraViolet digital copy codes — as well as CD and video game package download codes — were live on eBay on Friday afternoon.

No UV code auction exceeded $6, and none had more than three bids. In principle, digital content is allowed, it is enough to list it in a certain category. Maria, a student, bypasses the security system of copyrighted film DVDs she has purchased. She makes digital copies of the DVDs on her computer and exchanges them with her fellow students on the university`s high-speed network. Special thanks to Professor Derek Bambauer of the University of Arizona for guiding the final section of this article. Professor Bambauer founded the James E. Intellectual Property Clinic. Rogers College of Law, which provides free legal assistance to entrepreneurs and start-ups.

One. Make computer backup copies of purchased CDs and DVDs. The record company responded that this made no sense, asking in a brief last week: “Would the defendants only order the court to close the sales, but allow the defendants to continue to offer illegal reproductions of the plaintiffs` sound recordings? Such a distinction leads to absurd consequences, where resellers might try to sell pirated copies but could never actually close those sales. The “including purchased Fandango/Vudu content” part is the most important. This means that if Disney decides, for example, that it no longer wants to allow Vudu to sell its films, the company can shut down the Vudu Disney films. As unlikely as it may be, the service could theoretically block access to movies you`ve already purchased — as the terms state: “Our ability to stream or download content may terminate when our licenses end, change, or expire.” Valenti points out that copyrighted material is an important asset. “Intellectual property, which includes the core industries of copyright, movies, TV shows, home videos, books, music recordings and software, accounts for nearly 4 percent of the nation`s gross domestic product, generates about $45 billion in overseas revenue, and has grown its employment four times faster than the annual growth rate of the entire U.S. economy. Anything that shrinks this massive asset is not in America`s interest. In the United States, it is often based on the “first sale” doctrine. This means that when you purchase a copyrighted item, you have the right to sell or give away the entire copyrighted item (and either you must add all copies or all copies you make must be destroyed; You cannot keep a copy).

What you plan to give away half of your purchase is not allowed because of the first-sale doctrine. I was told today that I can`t sell my codes because they have to be associated with a bundle and their policy states that you can`t sell a digital code without other bundle items like DVD or Blu-ray. It`s the stupidest thing I`ve ever heard. Although I own the code and say not once, but twice that it`s just one and I own it. The stupidest policy I`ve heard/read so far! eBay earns money from people who buy and sell personal and/or business items. Why is this a problem!?! A company is unlikely to willfully destroy the alleged assets of millions of nuclear-armed customers, even if those companies would like you to buy all your films again. The backlash would be substantial and the resulting lawsuits would likely take years and millions of dollars to resolve. For the most part, businesses would be reluctant to alienate and annoy such a large customer base. Since the introduction of UltraViolet value with Blu-ray and DVD packages last October, industry analysts have warned that an online secondary market for access codes to digital copies of movies could quickly emerge, which could give new headaches to Hollywood (see GigaOm). The issue resurfaced this week when The Consumerist reported that eBay had removed an auction of unused UltraViolet code from a copy of Paramount`s new version, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. Of course, if you sell directly to people on the internet, you run the risk of being scammed both when buying and selling.

However, given that the full prices of movies are often lower than HD digital rentals, and if you sell the code you didn`t want to use anyway, the risk is minimal. Remember never to provide your personal information, especially your bank account numbers, credit card numbers, home addresses, and government ID. While they don`t defend digital piracy, critics from Hollywood and major record labels say there should be a fairer use of copyrighted works. Fair dealing advocates say consumers should have the right to make copies of their CDs and DVDs so they can read them at home, at work, in the car and on portable devices.