Re: Making CD backups
#124316
11/26/02 09:59 PM
11/26/02 09:59 PM
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Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 2,964 San Francisco
fov
Addicted Boomer
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Addicted Boomer
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 2,964
San Francisco
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a friend of mine, who happens to be a lawyer, once joked that she bought a CD writer so she could make "personal backups" of her boyfriend's CD selection. she said that legally, the owner of a CD is allowed to make backups for their own personal use. i'd imagine it's the same for a game, but i bet you're right about the copy protection on some disks.
in a similar vein, i cross stitch, and there is a lot of controversy about whether it's legal to make a personal "working" copy of a chart, so when you are stitching from it you can write on it, etc., without worrying about destroying your original copy. the general consensus is that as long as it's for personal use, and you destroy the working copy when you're done, it's perfectly legal. so i'd think it's okay to back up a game, as long as you destroy the backup if you trade or sell the original.
-emily
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Re: Making CD backups
#124317
11/26/02 10:20 PM
11/26/02 10:20 PM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,159 Arlington, WA, US
Cynch
Addicted Boomer
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Addicted Boomer
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,159
Arlington, WA, US
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I make back-up copies of all my favorite old games that are no longer available for purchase.
As long as you purchased the original copy..I'm quite sure it is perfectly legal to do this. And even if it isn't, who is ever going to know about it, as long as you do not sell/lend or give your back-up copies to anyone else. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Confused]" src="confused.gif" />
After making my back-up copies, I store my precious old games away in a safe place and only use the copies when I replay the games. Cynch
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away."
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Re: Making CD backups
#124319
11/26/02 11:42 PM
11/26/02 11:42 PM
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Joined: Nov 1999
Posts: 10,323
gatorlaw
Adept Boomer
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Adept Boomer
Joined: Nov 1999
Posts: 10,323
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The practical reality is of course people do make back ups of certain software and keep it for personal use - but it is a violation of the current copyright law. It is a popular myth that there is a "back up copy exception". But of course Cynch made the main point on a practical level.. Not to say that the lawyer friend wasn't in good faith when she said that - but after extensive research of existing copyright decisional law and statutes over the last year - that is the current position on such practices. Laura
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Re: Making CD backups
#124320
11/27/02 08:32 AM
11/27/02 08:32 AM
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Joined: Feb 2000
Posts: 5,107 New Orleans, LA. USA
nolalou
BAAG Specialist
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BAAG Specialist
Joined: Feb 2000
Posts: 5,107
New Orleans, LA. USA
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I always assumed if you make copies for you own use, and it isn't used in more than one place at a time, then it's okay. In other words, it's not okay to loan the bakup to a friend, while you play from the original one. In the case of music CD's , I have made cassette copys to play in my car. (now I have a CD player in my car, so I don't need to do that any more). Even if it's technicaly 'not legal', I can't imaging getting in trouble for it as long as you don't distribute it to others, and only keep it for your own use. Then again, I'm not a lawyer, so what do I know! Louis
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Re: Making CD backups
#124321
11/27/02 09:09 AM
11/27/02 09:09 AM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 1,947 Land of 10,000 Lakes
MrLipid
Addicted Boomer
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Addicted Boomer
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 1,947
Land of 10,000 Lakes
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As the digital rights management discussion rolls forward, I expect to see some interesting court cases. As it stands, you don't actually buy software. You buy a license to use the code. The diskette or CD or DVD is just a handy container for that code.
The license (End User License Agreement or EULA) routinely absolves the manufacturer of any liability for damage or loss caused by said licensed software.
In effect, the user owns nothing and the manufacturer bears no responsibility whatsoever when it comes to delivering the promised experience. The end user is bound by a contract -- and subject to prosecution for copyright violation -- while the manufacturer is bound by nothing other than the requirement that there be something on the diskette/CD/DVD and certainly not subject to prosecution for the failure of whatever might be on the diskette/CD/DVD to work properly.
If manufacturers are so concerned about people making backups, there is a simple solution: Every software box should ship with two copies of the software in it AND manufacturers should be required to replace any damaged or defective disks at no cost whatsoever to the user. If a manufacturer wants the power to take away the ability of the user to make copies, the manufacturer should be willing to pay for that power by taking up the responsibility of seeing to it that users lose nothing by losing the ability to make copies. That is, the manufacturer should be willing to provide as many copies as needed.
Currently, the situation is ridiculously lopsided. Be interesting to see how long it will persist.
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Re: Making CD backups
#124324
11/27/02 03:25 PM
11/27/02 03:25 PM
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Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 1,693 Isle of Man
gremlin
Addicted Boomer
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Addicted Boomer
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 1,693
Isle of Man
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This is a complex area, but my current understanding is this - video recorders should (legally) only be used to 'time shift' programs - to be watched once, as broadcast, and then destroyed
- the belief that you can make a 'backup' of a CD as long as it is for personal use only is based on an old agreement (not a law, just an agreement not to prosecute) between media companies & the enforcement agencies, that it was reasonable to backup magnetic media (i.e. floppies & tapes) because of the limited life span of those media. Given the much, much greater expected lifespan of CDs and DVDs, there is no such agreement in place.
Sorry. If you want to extend the life of your CDs... use the full install option for your game, and a NO-CD patch (which may be illegal to produce, but are not illegal to use), so that you don't keep using the disk. Ta-ra, The Gremlin.
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Re: Making CD backups
#124325
11/27/02 04:00 PM
11/27/02 04:00 PM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 40,644 southeast USA
Jenny100
GB Reviewer Glitches Moderator
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GB Reviewer Glitches Moderator
Sonic Boomer
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 40,644
southeast USA
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As far as I'm concerned, a EULA that you can't read until you've purchased the game is void. The first time you see the EULA is at the beginning of your install - not before you buy the game. And many shops won't accept returns of opened software.
Some game EULA's do allow you to make one personal backup of the game. EULA's aren't all the same if you actually read them. But how many people take the time to read them when they are eager to finish installing their new game and try it out?
It is easier to make CDR copies of older DOS games than it is to make copies of newer games. Before CDR drives were available, no one was able to copy CD's and there was no need for copy protection.
But not all CDRW's are capable of copying the newer forms of copy protection. The best combination of software and hardware for copying ALL CD's, both new and old, is a combination of CloneCD and one of the CDRW drives recommended on the CloneCD site.
Notice that not all the CDRW's they list are equal. They are just the ones that have been tested. The best CDRW's are the ones with 2 disks in the "Correct EMF-Encoding" column which can do "RAW-DAO 96 = 2352 bytes RAW Data + 96 Bytes P-W Subchannel Data." To copy the latest games, you need this sort of thing. To copy older games, you wouldn't.
To play your game (if it has one of the recent versions of copy protection) you may need to have a CloneCD icon in your taskbar with "Hide CDR Media" checked in it in order for your drive to read it. I have a friend who lives in Canada who told me about this. She told me that when she tried to play her "backed up" game with her LG CDROM, she had to use the icon. But when she got a new drive, she didn't need the icon to play it any more. My friend tested the Canadian version of Syberia and another game - I think it was Beyond Atlantis.
One of the settings in Clone CD is to "amplify weak sectors" (AWS). I got the impression (from what my friend told me) that this setting could overcome the deficiencies in some CDRW writers. If your computer's region settings were set to "USA," AWS is disabled by default. But if they were set to "Canada" (and probably some other countries), you could take advantage of the AWS option and copy some CD's you probably otherwise couldn't with a less-capable CDRW drive.
CloneCD has a trial version, but it expires after a while. Since I only rarely back up anything, and when I do it's an old DOS game, I didn't think it was worth the price (about $40). It might be for someone else.
Last edited by looney4labs; 06/26/07 02:26 PM. Reason: remove broken link
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Re: Making CD backups
#124326
11/27/02 07:37 PM
11/27/02 07:37 PM
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 184
heavycat
Settled Boomer
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Settled Boomer
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 184
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Look at how many people tape TV programs or movies on TV to watch over and over. What is the law on that I wonder. IANAL. Universal and Disney (oh, look, Disney again, what a surprise) sued Sony in 1984 to stop them from selling Betamax machines because it allowed people to make copies of copyrighted movies and television shows for personal use. The Supreme Court of the United States ruled in favor of Sony, saying that "it was fair use for consumers to copy programs off the air for time-shifting purposes," and more generally that "private, noncommercial copying should be presumed fair use." Since there is no appeal from the U.S. Supreme Court, that about wraps it up for the "one-copy only" business model. But let's examine the legalities a little closer: Title 17 of the U.S. Code, Chapter 1, Section 107: "Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work,
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is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include:"
(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes; A backup copy passes here. Backups are noncommercial, unless copyright law entitles the rights holder to another sale every time a disc is scratched. (2) the nature of the copyrighted work;
(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and These don't seem to apply directly to a backup copy, since it is an exact copy of the original. I'd say a personal backup fails these two tests. (4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work. A backup passes here, since the market has already been compensated for the original, and it is upon this point that the current argument will turn. If the courts agree that businesses are entitled to a sale each and every time a CD-ROM is used as opposed to purchased, then backups are not fair use. Problem is that the U.S. Supreme Court has spoken almost directly on point here, so the entire argument is academic. Goodnight Mouseketeers.
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Re: Making CD backups
#124327
11/27/02 08:19 PM
11/27/02 08:19 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 7,858 North Florida
BillyBob
BAAG Specialist
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BAAG Specialist
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 7,858
North Florida
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Despite the long asserted point that the government is of the people, by the people, and for the people it has been my personal observation and determination that it just ain't so.....except for the making of some laws that seem to be in that direction but you can't get them implemented unless you are rich or can get a whole lot of the "common" people involved (and that ain't easy). I'll try not to get too "long winded" on this subject despite the points I could make to show this a valid statement. We see it all around us. Cameras on the highways with built in radar (got them here). Jobs lost due only to the technology that makes people obsolete, etc. When you discuss this about the laws against copying CDs, etc. ask yourself this question. How many songs on records, CDs, etc. did you get for the price of said record, CD, that you really wanted? Were you not subsidizing the other so called artists whose songs were on that CD.......whether you wanted to or not? Enough of that. I won't be around when it gets really bad but that doesn't mean I like seeing what's coming. I can only "feel" for those of you who will suffer from the lack of freedom that is being gradually taken from you in the name of "the better good" (but for whom?)
I didn't do it......and if I did I'm not guilty!
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Re: Making CD backups
#124328
11/27/02 09:05 PM
11/27/02 09:05 PM
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Joined: May 1999
Posts: 22,381 Seattle Washington USA
Witchen
True Blue Boomer
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True Blue Boomer
Joined: May 1999
Posts: 22,381
Seattle Washington USA
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Hi Gang........This is definitely one of those discussions that can (and probably will be) tossed around just short of eternity. As far as Gameboomers is concerned, it might be a good idea along in here some place to take the time to review Gameboomers' Software and Copyright Law FAQ\'s and Posting Guidelines . I am fairly sure that we will see changes in the existing situation in the not too distant future. After all, this is one unique market where the manufacture has no liability whatsoever and generally bears no burden to issue even the slightest glimmer of a warranty on the product sold. "If you open it, you bought it" may be rapidly becoming an edict of the "olden days." I hope so. Love, Witchen =O)
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Re: Making CD backups
#124335
12/03/02 10:17 PM
12/03/02 10:17 PM
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Joined: Nov 1999
Posts: 10,323
gatorlaw
Adept Boomer
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Adept Boomer
Joined: Nov 1999
Posts: 10,323
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The law in regards to back up copies only applies to software. Movies copied for home use from broadcast and other medium has been permisseable according to the courts for some time. Many felt that the courts would apply the same logic to copies of software for personal use and also MP3 downloads - but they distinguished the two mediums and stated that due to other laws - software was different.
Unless the courts rule otherwise at this point making back up copies of videos is a whole different thing and should be legal as long as it isn't for sale or broadcast, in other words for profit.
Laura
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Re: Making CD backups
#124338
12/06/02 10:16 PM
12/06/02 10:16 PM
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Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 31,224 Northwestern New Mexico, USA
Jenny
Grande Olde Dame
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Grande Olde Dame
Sonic Boomer
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 31,224
Northwestern New Mexico, USA
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This is all academic for me, since I don't own a CD burner, but I distinctly remember when I installed Tony Tough just about ten days ago that there was a clause in that agreement saying you could make a single copy for a backup, for personal use only...
"Once you give up integrity, the rest is easy." Anonymous
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