I need your advice, ladies and gentlemen ...

[Osi Osgood]

OK, I have been enjoying making brand new digests of classic sci-fi films for myself, and I know that others, if fellow collectors were to see these, they'd want a copy of their own. However, in just making the digest, and just getting a copy for myself, I feel as if I am in fact, simply making a "fan edit" of my favored film. I make no money off of it, nor do I desire to. In my opinion, it's no different from fan edit digests that, to this day, still show up on YouTube, for instance and, depending on the day or content, copyright holders have taken down, or they may just leave up, which would at least appear to be something that copyright holders are OK with. Now my question, folks, is, if I have no desire or want to make any copies of my digests, but I make the digest available for others to have they're own digest made, with myself not making a single penny or profiting in any way from the individual making they're own copy, would I be OK in doing so? As a person who owns his own copyrighted materials (music), I know full well the importance of protecting copyright rights. Your opinions?

[Ed Gordon]

If you bought a DVD/Bluray to rip to disk to create a "fan edit" and/or a digest to print on film you might be vulnerable to legal action against you. The "gotcha" is if the source was copy protected:

By Tanya Roth, Esq. | Last updated on March 21, 2019

You've seen those FBI warnings at the start of a movie when you pop in a DVD. The warnings tell you that unauthorized reproduction is illegal.

But what is "unauthorized reproduction," and when can it land you in hot water? Is it legal to burn a DVD that you own?

The answer to that lies in the eternal question: Is it illegal if you won't ever get caught?

What the Law Says

Here's the lowdown on this. According to the law, it is actually illegal to rip a DVD, even if you own it, as Lifehacker points out. That's if we're talking about DVDs that contain copy-protected content.

Specifically speaking, Title I of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DCMA) states in part that it's illegal to "circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under this title."

In short, circumventing the copy-protection mechanism on the DVD is a violation of the DCMA.

In some ways, that goes against the whole concept of fair use. Under this legal doctrine, attorneys have argued that owners of media have the right to back up their media by making copies, CNET has reported.

But the DMCA gets in the way, with its pesky provisions.

Practical Considerations

There was a rather prominent case on this issue, which pitted the DMCA against the fair use doctrine. In RealNetworks v. DVD Copy Control Association, a federal court found RealNetworks to be in violation of the DMCA because its software circumvented copy-protection technology.

As you can see, the movie industry is pretty vigilant when it comes to the protection of its copyrighted material.

Of course, that doesn't mean DVD owners aren't burning copies of movies they own anyway, even with the DCMA in place. Are there any risks to doing that?

The reality is that private DVD ripping for private home viewing is relatively unmonitored, and it's a crime that is definitely very difficult to enforce. But if you are caught, either through distribution of these copied DVDs or through a search of your home, beware! You will have to face the wrath of prosecutors, and perhaps even some powerful movie studios.

Source: https://www.findlaw.com/legalblogs/l...-that-you-own/

[Osi Osgood]

Good points there, but ahhh, many Blu-Rays sold these days, also allow you to download your own digital copy, apart from a blu-ray or DVD disc. I wonder if, when played, the digital file that is downloaded, had "copyright legalities" stated at the beginning of the featured film? Just a thought

[Joerg Polzfusz]

You will run into two legal problems:
a) copyright of the movie itself
b) copyright of the music (as the movie producer most likely didn’t license this way of distribution, you might have to obtain a new license)

You might bypass this by selling the film together with the source (Blu-ray/DVD). In this case, the film might be rated as „legal private backup copy“.
However, in some countries even a DVD is rated as „encrypted“. Hence, you aren’t allowed to make a „private copy“ that breaks/removes this „encryption“. (= you are allowed to make a 1:1 copy of this DVD, but you aren’t allowed to extract the movie and copy it onto your computer or copy it onto film)

Besides the copyright problem, you might even be sued by the script writers, actors, … as they might argue that your films reduced the number of sold DVDs/Blu-Rays or the number of streams. This might have reduced their income when they’ve got a contract, that guarantees them a fraction of the „home video“ revenue….

[Phil Moors]

I don’t think any movie company is going to thank you for making copies of their products without all the necessary permissions and fees being in place.

[Osi Osgood]

Well, I am not expecting "thank you's", and this is only theoretical at the moment, ( putting them out there for other people ), and there's no profit in it for me, and that's what these companies are really interested in, lost profit.

[Brian Harrington]

I wouldn't do it if I were you, until you consult a lawyer. No one's opinions here matter on a legal question like that -- unless they are a lawyer with that area of expertise. No "my uncle Joe, who used to be a lawyer, said..." and stuff like that.

[Phil Moors]

Crazy?

[Brian Harrington]

What do the other people who make new releases on Super 8 do?