# Would it be piracy?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-piracy/287097
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [January 28, 2005, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-piracy/287097 "2005-01-28T12:48:32Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@klintypooh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/klintypooh)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2005, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-piracy/287097/1 "2005-01-28T12:48:32Z")
I have no intention of doing this, it just popped into my head. Say I buy a DVD for arguments sake we’ll say Family guy.
Now I think as I own it legally I can download it for backup purposes right? Now what if my friend borrows my DVD but I don’t give him a timeframe as when to give it back, am I doing anything wrong? He is borrowing mine and if I want I can view the backups…Whats the deal here?
And also what are the laws in regards to downloading ‘unreleased’ songs etc such as Eminems tape where he is being pretty racist so he obviously wouldn’t release it formally.
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### Author:  [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2005, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-piracy/287097/2 "2005-01-28T13:09:26Z")
IANAL, but I think you’re wrong. The purpose of making a backup is to have an archive. Period. The only circumstance where actually _watching_ that backup is OK is if the original is damaged in some way. Thus if your friend has the original and you’re watching the “backup”, it’s not a backup anymore, is it? Now it’s just a copy, and an illegal one at that. Calling it a “backup” doesn’t change what you’re doing with it.
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### Author:  [@klintypooh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/klintypooh)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2005, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-piracy/287097/3 "2005-01-28T13:12:42Z")
Makes sense to me. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2005, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-piracy/287097/4 "2005-01-28T13:13:35Z")
> [@klintypooh](#):
>
> Now I think as I own it legally I can download it for backup purposes right?
Am I understanding you to say that you think because you own DVD-A you are legally allowed to download the contents of DVD-B if A and B have the same contents? You’re not, any more than buying one copy of a book allows you to walk out of a bookstore with another copy of it.
IANAL, etc.
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### Author:  [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2005, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-piracy/287097/5 "2005-01-28T13:15:25Z")
> [@klintypooh](#):
>
> And also what are the laws in regards to downloading ‘unreleased’ songs etc such as Eminems tape where he is being pretty racist so he obviously wouldn’t release it formally.
Oh, and as for part two, this is also a copyright violation. The creator of unreleased material still holds the copyright to it.
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### Author:  [@klintypooh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/klintypooh)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2005, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-piracy/287097/6 "2005-01-28T13:15:32Z")
> [@Otto](#):
>
> Am I understanding you to say that you think because you own DVD-A you are legally allowed to download the contents of DVD-B if A and B have the same contents? You’re not, any more than buying one copy of a book allows you to walk out of a bookstore with another copy of it.
>
> IANAL, etc.
As does that. 🙂
And for the record I’m not going to do this mainly because I don’t have money to buy DVDs, I might just borrow my friends. 😃
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### Author:  [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2005, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-piracy/287097/7 "2005-01-28T13:28:47Z")
I have a movie in my DVD Drive right now and have it paused on the FBI Warning that is listed at the beginning of every DVD and it states:
\*Federal Law provides severe civil and criminal penalties for the unauthorized reproduction, distribution, or exhibition of copyrighted motion pictures and video tapes (Title 17, United States Code, Sections 501 and 508).
The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigates allegations of criminal copyright infringement (Title 17, United States Code, Section 508).\*
So, yes. It would be piracy.
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### Author:  [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2005, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-piracy/287097/8 "2005-01-28T13:54:55Z")
Arrrrrrr…rrrrr.
This thread, it be disappointing, it be, by Billy Bones.
Arrrrrrr. ☹😉
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### Author:  [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2005, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-piracy/287097/9 "2005-01-28T15:34:27Z")
> [@Aesiron](#):
>
> I have a movie in my DVD Drive right now and have it paused on the FBI Warning that is listed at the beginning of every DVD and it states:
>
> \*Federal Law provides severe civil and criminal penalties for the unauthorized reproduction, distribution, or exhibition of copyrighted motion pictures and video tapes (Title 17, United States Code, Sections 501 and 508).
>
> The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigates allegations of criminal copyright infringement (Title 17, United States Code, Section 508).\*
> So, yes. It would be piracy.
And INTERPOL has expressed concern as well, and they expressed it all the way back in 1977.
god, why do I _remember_ stuff like this?
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### Author:  [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2005, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-piracy/287097/10 "2005-01-28T15:45:57Z")
Becuase the bastards that make DVDs won’t let you fast foward through it?
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### Author:  [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2005, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-piracy/287097/11 "2005-01-28T18:16:43Z")
That doesn’t mean I have to _read_ it!
FYI, you may be able to cut it short by hitting STOP while it’s on and then MENU or TOP MENU. Sometimes works for me, sometimes not.
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### Author:  [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2005, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-piracy/287097/12 "2005-01-29T02:52:15Z")
how about the stacks of music cds that i have? they are all on my pc now as mp3s. can i lend or give the cds to my friends indefinitely? is this similar to the OP?
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### Author:  [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2005, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-piracy/287097/13 "2005-02-02T04:06:40Z")
actually, i think i may have misplaced some of these CDs in the house. should i be unable to find them, are the mp3s that i have legal?
* * *
bump card - go directly to top of page, do not pass the stickies, do not feed the hamsters.
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### Author:  [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2005, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-piracy/287097/14 "2005-02-05T03:41:19Z")
> [@shijinn](#):
>
> how about the stacks of music cds that i have? they are all on my pc now as mp3s. can i lend or give the cds to my friends indefinitely? is this similar to the OP?
Of course not. How complicated is it? You can’t copy intellectual property and give it to others. It cannot be listened to in more than one place at once. Otherwise, you’re evil and your evil actions will result in Metallica having to give strangers blowjobs just to get bus fare.
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### Author:  [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2005, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-piracy/287097/15 "2005-02-06T12:12:19Z")
well, can i throw (and i’ve already misplaced some) the CDs away then? i have little use for them and there’s strange stuff growing on them. would i then somehow have illegal copies of the songs, when i have bought the original and everything?
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### Author:  [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2005, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-piracy/287097/16 "2005-02-06T13:19:17Z")
Scan a pdf copy of the receipt whenever you buy a CD. Keep it in a subdirectory of your music directory, and include the file number on the label of any copy you make for your own use. Changing the format of any copy of digital information you have paid for is fair use. Playing it for others in your home is fair use.
Making copies for others to use for any period is not fair use. Selling copies is not fair use. Using copies after you have sold or given away originals is not fair use.
Tris
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### Author:  [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2005, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-piracy/287097/17 "2005-02-06T16:24:54Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#):
>
> Arrrrrrr…rrrrr.
>
> This thread, it be disappointing, it be, by Billy Bones.
> Arrrrrrr. ☹😉
I bin thinkin lately of havin **Tuckerfan** cast me some cannons. Then, me and a gang of scalliwags go to Penn’s Landing and ‘liberate’ one of the ships. Then, with **Carbon Face Una** stoking the engines, we make fer the Atlantic. Affer that, we survive by swooping down on unsuspecting ships and takin what we need (and possibly an endorsment deal with Captain Morgan).
Twould that be piracy?
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### Author:  [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2005, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-piracy/287097/18 "2005-02-06T16:48:52Z")
Ahrrrrr!
I mean aye!
Tris
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### Author:  [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2005, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-piracy/287097/19 "2005-02-07T01:06:17Z")
(This be from the dim memory of a thing years past. So, it may not come out right)
From Amazon Women On The Moon
Video Pirates!
“Look! A whole chest of laser discs!”
“Bah! They’re not compatible with me system.”
“ooooh! FBI warning! I’m sooooo scared!”
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### Author:  [@klintypooh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/klintypooh)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2005, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-piracy/287097/20 "2005-02-07T01:31:51Z")
:smack: Just got the piracy joke. :smack:
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