12 réponses
Putting anti-copy protection on a product sold in France amounts to prohibiting us from enjoying our RIGHT to private copy exception, a right we pay for with every purchase of CDs, DVDs, USB keys, external hard drives, etc.
The tax that affects us in France is MEANT FOR this.
As a result, if distributors take it upon themselves to impose protections to prevent us from enjoying what is a RIGHT, then I see no reason why we should refrain from circumventing the protective measure which itself is illegal.
And I doubt these publishers would dare complain to one of our courts.
There have already been cases and complaints filed against some, like Sony for example.
To exercise the right to private copy, there are software tools available. Ripp-it for example is excellent and free (software and developers are French) https://www.ripp-it.com/
The product, the site, and the entire active community are perfectly legal :-)
At your service...
The tax that affects us in France is MEANT FOR this.
As a result, if distributors take it upon themselves to impose protections to prevent us from enjoying what is a RIGHT, then I see no reason why we should refrain from circumventing the protective measure which itself is illegal.
And I doubt these publishers would dare complain to one of our courts.
There have already been cases and complaints filed against some, like Sony for example.
To exercise the right to private copy, there are software tools available. Ripp-it for example is excellent and free (software and developers are French) https://www.ripp-it.com/
The product, the site, and the entire active community are perfectly legal :-)
At your service...
Thank you for this statement which is certainly a personal stance that is in no way a legal argument.
Because at least since the DADVSI, all of this is false.
Quote: "(...) Anti-copy systems, used to prevent users from duplicating a CD or a DVD, are legalized. Breaking these locks becomes illegal and punishable:
The mere possession of a cracking tool is punishable by a fine of 750 euros.
Using such a tool raises the bill to 3750 euros.
Distributing a tool to crack protection locks risks 6 months in prison and a fine of 30,000 euros.(...)"
==> https://www.lesnumeriques.com/loisirs/projet-loi-dadvsi-adopte-assemblee-consequences-a249.html
Just for your information. From this point on, everyone does as they wish regarding their private life, but they will have to bear the consequences...
A word to the wise...
See you later
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-=O(_BmV_)O=-"Love as a sword, humor as a shield." (B.Werber)
I've never claimed to give a law course, and I never said it was legal to circumvent a protective measure! I know, and almost everyone knows, that the DADVSI went through this; unfortunately!
That said, nothing I wrote is false.
I do emphasize the fact that the "exception for private copying" still exists in France and that we continue to pay taxes on media.
That being said, where you are right is that it was a personal stance (which took into account the legal realities).
Then, each person will take their responsibilities with full knowledge of the facts.
In fact, there is a contradiction and incompatibility between the right to private copying and the provisions of the DADVSI, that is evident. Or did our leaders choose to have their cake and eat it too? (taxing the media while preventing copying....)
There is also a contradiction when Sony protects content and sells recorders (no hypocrisy, Sony knows very well that recorders are not just for making copies of vacation videos) lol!
In short, technically and morally, all of this is not very "clean."
So, I don't think we should blame an individual who makes a backup of a DVD to avoid scratching the original.
Furthermore, that same individual could very well use software of which they are unaware that it uses a method for circumventing protections (in that case, to establish guilt, it's not going to be easy)
and there would also need to be a complaining rights holder. However, the probability that Jim Carrey or MGM would come to check that we haven't made copies of our original DVDs is not very high ;-)
And to start, they would likely go after the publishers of this software that allows copying, I think.
We'll see what the case law says on this question. Hoping that this right to private copying is reaffirmed (again, not easy!).
Whether some wish to protect their questionable income or whether taxes may be seen as unjustified is an opinion that can at least be debated, and whose conclusions should be relayed by the elected officials who make the laws; this is one thing, but circumventing protections is another thing, and this is currently illegal, therefore against the charter.
Other industries, like automotive or large distribution, also make equally disproportionate profits and their products are just as much, if not more, taxed, yet it seems entirely accepted by everyone that stealing a car or snatching foie gras from Auchan is illegal, and no one whines in those cases about the monetary or criminal sanctions following such acts.
Why is there such a strong inclination to consider that "immaterial" products like films, software, or songs, which are just as much consumer industrial products today, should make an exception to this principle?
--
-=O(_BmV_)O=-"Love as a sword, humor as a shield." (B.Werber)
The right to direct expression still exists in France, and I intend to use it just as much as the exception for private copying. So, yes, it's still good that we can "still, in theory, debate" opinions on a forum.
For your information, I am not a doctor in law but let’s say... a little informed.
Therefore, know that the subject itself is not illegal and that it is quite possible to circumvent protections while remaining within the law. Indeed, an exception was introduced by Decree No. 2006-1763 of December 23, 2006, relating to the criminal repression of certain infringements of copyright and neighboring rights:
“Art. R. 335-4. - The acts of the following are punishable by the fine provided for fourth class contraventions:
“1° Holding with a view to personal use or using a technological application, device or component designed or specially adapted to remove or modify an item of information referred to in Article L. 331-22 and which aims to harm a copyright, a neighboring right, or a database producer's right, to conceal or facilitate such an infringement;
“2° Resorting to a service designed or specially adapted to carry out, under the same conditions, the infringement aimed at in the previous paragraph.
“These provisions do not apply to acts that do not harm rights holders and that are carried out for computer security purposes or for scientific research purposes in cryptography.”
Source Legifrance: https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/loda/id/JORFTEXT000000817096/2020-12-04/
There are therefore no legal grounds to consider the subject entirely taboo, unless the site administrator decides so arbitrarily (that's their right). Let’s admit it would still be a shame to censor on a French forum what does not need to be censored...
That being said, in response to your last paragraph, and I will leave it at that, know that the tax we pay on digital media grants us the right to the private copying exception. However, as far as I know, no tax is imposed that would grant us a right to theft at Auchan! There is a significant difference, and the comparison you are trying to make cannot be established.
We are not stealing anything when we exercise our paid (by tax) private copying right.
And we are not “whining” when we demand that our (paid) right be upheld. That’s called claiming (and rest assured, it is indeed raised by certain elected officials!).
The day we pay taxes for the right to steal at Auchan (that wouldn’t be moral, would it! lolol), I think there will be people who will claim it when we try to take it away from them lol. That would be quite normal.
As for me, I believe I have contributed to the best of my knowledge and opinions, and as I have nothing more to add, I will not return to this subject.
Good evening and best wishes to all forum members :-)
As for the rest, indeed, one might consider that the collection of a tax could grant rights to private copying, one can claim that, certainly, and no one here intends to contest it, but fundamentally, it remains that making a copy of a protected DVD is currently illegal in France.
--
-=O(_BmV_)O=-"Love as a sword, humor as a shield." (B.Werber)