Copyrighted CD backups

[DVOM]

I've been led to believe that it's legal to make one backup copy of a copyrighted CD such as your OS CD. Is this true?

[Gerdog]

Yep, even Microsoft agrees with that.

[kallikru]

...for personal use only...

[NoBoB]

Not always.

Read the End User License Agreement that came with the disc. If backups are allowed -- or prohibited -- the EULA will say so.

Some games specifically call out 'no copying, even for backup'.

[SuperSparks]

I think that it depends on what country you live in, more than the EULA itself. My understanding is that in the European Union making a backup copy for personal use only is expressly permissable in law, whereas for you guys in the US it's expressly forbidden. Having said that I've never heard of any software company going after an individual over making a backup copy (presumably in case a judge sets a precedent that says it's OK to do it). They only go after the professional pirates (and rightly so too).

[kv]

Actually, for the US I think legal precedent has protected the right to make a copy of copyrighted work as long as it is strictly for personal use, which is why the software companies don't pursue it. There have been many challenges in the past against VCR companies, tape manufacturers, photocopier manufacturers etc. because they aid consumers in "fraudulently" duplicating copyrighted material, but the court's have upheld an individual's right to do so for personal use.

This is the same reason the record labels are having difficulty stemming the flow of mp3's and other copied digital works. It should be easy enough to sue the manufactuers of media ripping software (Microsoft among them) for aiding in the illegal copying of protected works and trying to stem the mass duplication, but the courts don't consider making a copy of a song for personal use to be illegal. It's only illegal to distribute that song to other people.

Things change a little when you start talking about breaking copy protection schemes (the DCMA comes into play in the US, and other jurisdictions have similar legislation) but I think you can go ahead and safely copy your software CD's for backup purposes with a clean conscience as long as you don't modify or hack the code in the process. The EULA is really intended to regulate your right to install and use the software, not the physical media that contains it.

Anyways, that just my $0.02...

KV

[jamespetts]

I'm not an expert on US law, but in the UK making one copy as a genuine backup (and not to use on another computer or give to someone else) is specifically permitted by legislation, whatever your licence agreement may say.

Contrary to what you read here, however, unless it is different in the US to the UK, that something is for "personal use" does not make a difference as to whether it is lawful to copy it (but may make a difference to the severity of the penalty and degree of compensation).

There is a specific exclusion in respect of video-recording in the Copyrights Designs and Patents Act 1988, which provides that making a home recording of a television programme in order to watch it at a more convenient time is not an infringement of copyright.