Qn about copyright laws
 

If a group of friends come together and form some sort of DVD library, where we can watch each other's dvds basically for free, are we breaking any copyright laws?
We're not charging anything, but the end result is that people get to watch movies for free without purchasing the dvd - which doesn't seem all that different from video piracy.

No.

That situation should be covered by the First Sale Doctrine, the same law that lets video stores rent out the DVDs they buy.

We pay income tax. Public libraries get funds from the tax, buy lots of DVDs and loan them out without charge. They ain't breaking any laws ;)

The moment you rip from the DVDs, burn your own DVD+/-R and loan them out to friends, then you are breaking the laws. Loaning out the original DVDs to friends is not against the laws.

I'm curious as to why you're asking? Are you writing a report? Are you afraid the FBI's gonna raid you?

What you described is cool. You are in a sense loaning each other the 1 bought copy of the film. The moment you start making copies for each other you step into danger zone.

You can loan the discs to your friends, but you cannot show the disc's contents on a display to a bunch of friends. Such a situation is considered a "public performance" and is a violation of the copyright law.

So if you just have friends over to your home - no problem. But if you establish a business and let anyone come in off the street and watch the discs you're going to "federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison."

Just to add a bit of detail to this, the Copyright Act defines a public performance, in part, as one that occurs "at a place open to the public or at any place where a substantial number of persons outside of a normal circle of a family and its social acquaintances is gathered." Having some friends in your living room would generally count as your normal circle of social acquaintances; showing a DVD at your 300-guest wedding probably would not.

DJ

It depends on how you define "friends."

I mean, technically file swapping is legal among "friends" too - I just happen to have thousands of friends who live all over the globe! ;)

Well, as far as the law is concerned, it actually depends on how you define a "normal circle of a family and its social acquaintances."

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I mean, technically file swapping is legal among "friends" too

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Actually, technically, it isn't. The "normal circle of a family and its social acquaintances" exception applies to public performances. File swapping isn't a public performance, but rather copying. There is no "normal circle of a family and its social acquaintances" exception to copying.

DJ

So if I have a library of 500 dvds I can legally rent them? Interesting... In truth, my selection is as good or better than both local rental places.

You might be prevented by various state and local laws that might require licenses to conduct business, collect taxes, etc., but no copyright law would stop you.

DJ

Exactly. Your biggest legal issue would be to make sure that the government gets their cut.

What kind of crappy wedding is it where they show a movie to 300 guests?

Forget about charging money, "rent" them for free to everyone trustworthy at your place of work. Make friends, and stiff the studios/blockbuster of extra sales/rentals.

Keep in mind the name of the type of law you are worried about infringing: "copy"right, i.e. the right to make copies of a product. You are in no way coming close to that, and as discussed in other posts, you are not exhibiting the movies publicly and charging admission. What you're doing is called FUN.

Copying is only one of a number of rights granted by the US Copyright Act. Depending on the type of work at issue, some combination of the following rights are granted to copyright holders: copying, the creation of derivative works, distribution, public performance, public display, and digital transmission. Creators of certain classes of visual works are also given rights of attribution and integrity. The term "copyright" is a blanket one that covers a number of rights, some of which have no resemblance to the act of copying; focussing on the "copy" part of the word is rather misleading.

DJ

That seems wacky to me. If I show a movie to 300 people at a PTA meeting I have likely violated the copyright law. If I rent the same movie to 300 people and actually make money off their comprighted material, I have violated no law. I'm the only one who thinks this is strange?

Do you also find it odd that a teacher can take a single copy of a book and read it aloud to a class and nobody has a problem with that, but if they show a movie to the class the MPAA screams "COPYRIGHT VIOLATION"...

Perhaps someone should read a book aloud in a public place and see if some jackass screams 'copyright violation'... :)

Yeah, I do find that odd. Did this actually happen?

I believe there are often relaxations on copyright protections for solely educational uses. Reading a book in class is not only harmless it's also virtually unstoppable if it were in fact in violation of any copyright statute. The law as written is not always the same as the law as enforced.

DMCA made it harder for educational purposes on digital copies. So you can't really edit, alter, copy a perfect copy of a dvd even for educational purpose.

Still fuzzy on it all, but that's my understanding of it.

Not necessarily so strange. How long does it take to show a two-hour film to a group of people? Two hours. How long would it take you to rent a single DVD to 300 different people? At least a year, if not much more, given how long it generally takes people to watch a movie they've rented. To speed up that time, you would have to purchase multiple copies in order to rent to multiple people simultaneously. If all those people want to see the film tonight, you'd have to buy 300 copies. To satisfy the same group of people via renting with a similar immediacy as with a public performance, you'd have to give a lot more money to the copyright holder.

DJ

Actually, a classroom isn't considered a "public" performance since not anyone can attend. Likewise, offices or clubs with closed memberships may show a film to a group without being in violation.