Legality switching DVD to other formats

[excalibur3]

Hi everyone,
I was curious about the legal rights that come along with purchasing digital media. Specifically, if you purchase a DVD, from what I've heard I believe that it is within your right to either create or download a copy. How does this apply to other forms of media? I think that if you buy a DVD you can create a rip of it that you put in itunes for example but how does it work when converting to something like Blu-ray where it is a higher quality? Logic would suggest that if you took a DVD and converted it to Blu-ray format and then burned it that would be fine, but probably downloading a Blu-ray copy would be illegal. I am not really sure though, can anyone shed light? What is the best way to purchase media to minimize buying multiple copies of the same thing?

 

[sdifox]

are you in the USA? If so, you have no such rights.

PS ripping a dvd then up convert to BRD is a waste of time.

 

[sivart]

I think technically you are allowed to make a backup copy...however, you are not allowed to circumvent the copy protection on the disc. In essence, if you can't break the protection, you can't make your legal copy. So we have one law that prevents you from doing something legally.

Similar to most states laws on marijuana. It is not illegal to smoke it, just illegal to possess it. How can you smoke it if you can't legally possess it?

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

Digital Millennium Copyright Act

 

[sdifox]

I think technically you are allowed to make a backup copy...however, you are not allowed to circumvent the copy protection on the disc. In essence, if you can't break the protection, you can't make your legal copy. So we have one law that prevents you from doing something legally.

Similar to most states laws on marijuana. It is not illegal to smoke it, just illegal to possess it. How can you smoke it if you can't legally possess it?

put a sign on the marijuana that says "this is not mine" and have a cig holder holding up the joint, thus you are not holding it. :biggrin:

 

[Slick5150]

Legal? No, assuming the DVD has copy protection on it. Is anyone going to know and/or really care? Not really.

But your question implied that converting a DVD to Blu-Ray format would improve the quality, which it would not. The DVD is a 480p transfer of the video, you theoretically could increase it to 1080p but the quality wouldn't improve because the source was still 480p. Blu-Rays look better because they are 1080p taken from an HD/film source to begin with. So you'd be wasting your time doing this. If you want to convert it to xVid or something to save space, that's another story.

 

[excalibur3]

So I guess my question addresses two different issues:
1) If you own a DVD is making a copy equivalent to just downloading a bit torrent version of the dvd that is already ripped?

2) If 1) is legal, can you download a copy of something you own in a format different from what you bought? Could you for example download a blu-ray if you purchased a dvd version? (I know that converting dvd to blu-ray doesn't get you any difference in quality, but I am trying to tease apart whether legality is tied to changing media and/or quality)

PS- After looking I found that although it is legal to copy music from a CD and put it on an iPod, it's illegal to do the same for DVDs so that kind of kills this discussion as it stands.

 

[sivart]

2) If 1) is legal, can you download a copy of something you own in a format different from what you bought? Could you for example download a blu-ray if you purchased a dvd version?

Could you walk into the store with a copy of your Blu-ray as proof of ownership and then walk out with the DVD without paying? Or paying 50 cents for the disc?

 

[0roo0roo]

its ethically ok to backup what you own.
stupid mpaa would probably still ding you for downloading a rip of a dvd you already have though.

 

[sdifox]

its ethically ok to backup what you own.
stupid mpaa would probably still ding you for downloading a rip of a dvd you already have though.

Ethics was never the issue though.

 

[JSt0rm]

So I guess my question addresses two different issues:
1) If you own a DVD is making a copy equivalent to just downloading a bit torrent version of the dvd that is already ripped?

2) If 1) is legal, can you download a copy of something you own in a format different from what you bought? Could you for example download a blu-ray if you purchased a dvd version? (I know that converting dvd to blu-ray doesn't get you any difference in quality, but I am trying to tease apart whether legality is tied to changing media and/or quality)

PS- After looking I found that although it is legal to copy music from a CD and put it on an iPod, it's illegal to do the same for DVDs so that kind of kills this discussion as it stands.

bluray has added features that aren't on a dvd. so you would be stealing.

 

[excalibur3]

I don't think it is always the case that they add additional features though and if that was the case you could always just burn a bluray disk with just the bare movie on it.

I am sort of playing the devil's advocate here and since the law is pretty clear on it there isn't that much more to say there, but the morality of this I do find interesting. It's just too bad that there aren't trade up policies that allow me to pay (say) half price just for the additional rights to play it in blu-ray.

 

[sivart]

Warner Brothers has this http://www.dvd2blu.com/

Nice little trade in program for all of your DVD's you don't watch anymore.

 

[JSt0rm]

I don't think it is always the case that they add additional features though and if that was the case you could always just burn a bluray disk with just the bare movie on it.

I am sort of playing the devil's advocate here and since the law is pretty clear on it there isn't that much more to say there, but the morality of this I do find interesting. It's just too bad that there aren't trade up policies that allow me to pay (say) half price just for the additional rights to play it in blu-ray.

High definition (1080p) is a additional feature.