Beware: making personal copies of games can get you sued

[OmegaFenix]

I havent gotten to copy right law in my studies yet. this is what i want to specialise in when i qualify. when i have a bit of time at work i will go read up on the act and the case law.

lawyered.

[_Caboose_]

The thing i find REALLY funny is this line...

Games are movies, not software

So does that mean i can run diablo 3 on my dvd player?

[Isengard]

The thing i find REALLY funny is this line...



So does that mean i can run diablo 3 on my dvd player?

I'm sure the developers who coded the "movies" won't be impressed with that statement.

[symbolofmylife]

Here's my take on piracy in downloaded form:

There's no real substantial reason any person using the internet normally for home use requires data caps as high as 20-30 GB's. What do "they" think users do with that much data? Check emails? Use facebook?

Yeah, whatever. If this is a "real" problem, there should be greater control at the source in my opinion.

As far as music piracy goes in whichever form: it's been YEARS since any artists were able to "get rich" (or make a living for that matter) off selling albums. The reason for this is not due to piracy. It's due to record label greed and contracts leaning heavily in favour of the labels. Nowadays if an artist has a contract granting them R0.60 (yes, sixty cents people!!) per album sold that is considered a "good deal"....in fact, VERY good. So think now where the remaining R149.39 goes when you buy a R149.99 album. Not to the band, I can assure you!

The music industry has changed so much that most bands I am aware of nowadays kindof welcome downloads...why? It can potentially broaden their fan base and open up different marketing opportunities in terms of live performances and merchandising. As a matter of fact, artists now make their money touring, and selling merchandise which EXCLUDE the actual recorded music. Think about it...

[MOnk]

i'd like to see how they proof all of this. will be interesting to see if soemone is actually accused of this type of crime, how it will be tried etc.

To be honest I think it would fall apart really quickly. That's a law constructed back in the NES days when you look at the situation now there are just too many pot holes. Just take for instance that pretty much every PC game ever requires you to copy pretty much the entire contents of a DVD onto your PC just to play the game, so if I then copy those install files is that copyright infringement. Then you get digital distribution where you are encouraged to make backups either through built in channels like Steam Backup/Restore feature or just implicitly because the software has no DRM like the case with GoG.com.

[_Caboose_]

Here's my take on piracy in downloaded form:

There's no real substantial reason any person using the internet normally for home use requires data caps as high as 20-30 GB's. What do "they" think users do with that much data? Check emails? Use facebook?

Yeah, whatever. If this is a "real" problem, there should be greater control at the source in my opinion.

As far as music piracy goes in whichever form: it's been YEARS since any artists were able to "get rich" (or make a living for that matter) off selling albums. The reason for this is not due to piracy. It's due to record label greed and contracts leaning heavily in favour of the labels. Nowadays if an artist has a contract granting them R0.60 (yes, sixty cents people!!) per album sold that is considered a "good deal"....in fact, VERY good. So think now where the remaining R149.39 goes when you buy a R149.99 album. Not to the band, I can assure you!

The music industry has changed so much that most bands I am aware of nowadays kindof welcome downloads...why? It can potentially broaden their fan base and open up different marketing opportunities in terms of live performances and merchandising. As a matter of fact, artists now make their money touring, and selling merchandise which EXCLUDE the actual recorded music. Think about it...

Agree with the music bit 100%

As far as a home user is concernced, you would be VERY surprised on how much data a simple youtube video eats, i remember being in hospital and using my laptop and 3g watching simple music videos, 2 hours later, entire 500mb eaten i was shocked.

[Necuno]

Beware: making personal copies of games can get you sued

SAFACT warns that copying a movie or game for personal use can open you up to civil action

Who makes copies of their stuffs ? No need to when you have steam...

[OmegaFenix]

Here's my take on piracy in downloaded form:

There's no real substantial reason any person using the internet normally for home use requires data caps as high as 20-30 GB's. What do "they" think users do with that much data? Check emails? Use facebook?

Stream Netflix, BBC Iplayer, YouTube and a crap load of other steaming content sources (all HD). I use on average 200 to 300 gb a month. I dont pirate games or movies. I do download the odd latest episode of something like Falling Skies or Big Bang Theory but most of my data usage comes from other steaming media. Then you get to games on demand on Xbox live or PSN or even steam. I also keep my 3 gig dropbox open all the time and skype. So no a 20 - 30 GB cap robs you of a substantial chunk of what the net has to offer.

[Necuno]

Here's my take on piracy in downloaded form:

There's no real substantial reason any person using the internet normally for home use requires data caps as high as 20-30 GB's. What do "they" think users do with that much data? Check emails? Use facebook?

I loll'ed so hard I almost pissed myself. Someday some folks might grow up to digital distribution and streaming



<disclaimer>
No animals or humans were harmed in this response.
</disclaimer>

[LexAquillia]

@ Wenzdayz Here's the case if you are interested in reading it

http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZASCA/1996/103.html

Where are you studying law ?