Quoting BellUomo:

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Quoting skipnet50:

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Quoting Vega:

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It's not available commercially from the studio but there's many places that sell a "boxset" of all the episodes.  These websites consider the show old enough to be "public domain".  I don't know if they're right or not, but the Studios are not stopping them from selling them.  I won't post a link to any of them but they're easy enough to find by putting the following into Google:

"How the West was Won" tv

Then just look at the sponsored links that show at the top and the right side.  Most of them have the entire shows run on 25 DVDs.

Vega and every one of those site are supplying ILLEGAL pirated copies. They do not own the material and have no legal right to sell them.

Owning pirated material is as illegal as the sale of same, and subject  to the same punishments, which in the US are very healthy. So if you have been purchasing from these dealers, do so at your own risk.

Skip

Just a question: can I make a personal backup copy of my (legally) purchased movies ?
I know that for software I can !
Thank to everyone.

Sorry, but even making a "back-up" copy is illegal. What's to stop a person from selling their original copy once they make a copy? Nothing. That is why the MPAA has gone after programs like DVD Shrink.

Quoting 8ballMax:

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Quoting eagle61397:

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What's to stop a person from selling their original copy once they make a copy?

Morals

What the $#*& are they?

Quoting BellUomo:

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Just a question: can I make a personal backup copy of my (legally) purchased movies ?
I know that for software I can !
Thank to everyone.

I wasn't able to find anything useful using google (in English) you may want to try searching it in Italian or find an Italian forum to post the question in.

Quoting Lithurge:

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Quoting BellUomo:

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Just a question: can I make a personal backup copy of my (legally) purchased movies ?
I know that for software I can !
Thank to everyone.

I wasn't able to find anything useful using google (in English) you may want to try searching it in Italian or find an Italian forum to post the question in.

Thanks !

In the United State the Supreme Coiurt ruled that it is legal to make ONE backup under the Fair Use staute, and as someone noted you must own the original to possess the backup. The entertaining part of this is that this ruling while it cover s DVD, was passed down back in the days of Videotape, and digital copyright protection is gar  better than it was for videotape and I think something on the order of 90% of DVDs in the US are copy-protected. The Cour t has created a conflict by ruling that is illegal to override the Copy Protection so.... But the laws, also as noted, are different from country to country.

Skip

Quoting BellUomo:

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Quoting skipnet50:

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Quoting Vega:

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It's not available commercially from the studio but there's many places that sell a "boxset" of all the episodes.  These websites consider the show old enough to be "public domain".  I don't know if they're right or not, but the Studios are not stopping them from selling them.  I won't post a link to any of them but they're easy enough to find by putting the following into Google:

"How the West was Won" tv

Then just look at the sponsored links that show at the top and the right side.  Most of them have the entire shows run on 25 DVDs.

Vega and every one of those site are supplying ILLEGAL pirated copies. They do not own the material and have no legal right to sell them.

Owning pirated material is as illegal as the sale of same, and subject  to the same punishments, which in the US are very healthy. So if you have been purchasing from these dealers, do so at your own risk.

Skip

Just a question: can I make a personal backup copy of my (legally) purchased movies ?
I know that for software I can !
Thank to everyone.

The answer to that is:  Yes and No.  The courts have ruled that you can make copies for your own personal use as working copies and backups of the original.  However, to do that on most discs you have to defeat the Macrovision or whatever copy protection they use.  The courts also forced at least one very good product off the market that did a great job at making such copies, because it defeated the copy protection.

The most recent bunch of discs out also have a revised FBI warning that you can't even make personal copies.  So, this still remains a gray area, and nobody has tested it in court yet that I've heard about. Personally, I would say go ahead and make a copy for yourself for backup or working copy use, but KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT ABOUT IT!  Nobody can rat you out if nobody knows, right?

Quoting eagle61397:

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One thing that you've got to remember is that you may own a copy of the movie, but that actual owner of the movie is the studio. When you pay to purchase the movie, you are basically paying the owners a right to watch the movie in your own house. Now lets say that you bought the negative/original from a studio, then yes, you have a right to make as many copies you want.

Wow, the RIAA and MPA couldn't have hoped for better.  Now they've even got us consumers arguing against our own best interests.

Between this "license to view" argument and the extension of copyright to about 1000 years, it's surprising that the media industries don't simply demand a monthy deduction from our paychecks.    Just cut out the whole middle-man. 

Quoting skipnet50:

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... we own a limited license the terms of which are spelled out in the law.


Skip

One significant problem is that those terms spelled out in the law are open to widely varying opinions, including those who wrote the law.

"Fair use" is often ignored by copyright holders and their lawyers, yet defined by users (and their lawyers) way beyond that which was intended by the writers of the laws. Without fair use, teachers would be unable to quote portions of copyrighted works in tests (or even in lectures), and neither would students be able to quote sections of copyrighted works when discussing them in class, in essays or elsewhere. Yet, fair use is being fought every day by certain copyright holders.

The law states that creating a copy for use by the owner of the DVD (not the copyright holder) is legal. That way, an owner of a DVD may keep a copy in his vehicle for viewing by passengers/family in that vehicle, without fear that parking in the sun will destroy the owner's only copy of the DVD. Yet, copy protection on the DVD makes this provision impossible, for the most part.

This goes beyond making simple copies. Recently, Google informed users who "purchased ... download to own" videos from them that "After August 15, 2007, you will no longer be able to view your purchased or rented videos." The letter in full sent to these consumers reads:

Quote:
Hello,
As a valued Google user, we're contacting you with some important information about the videos you've purchased or rented from Google Video. In an effort to improve all Google services, we will no longer offer the ability to buy or rent videos for download from Google Video, ending the DTO/DTR (download-to-own/rent) program. This change will be effective August 15, 2007.

To fully account for the video purchases you made before July 18, 2007, we are providing you with a Google Checkout bonus for $5.00. Your bonus expires in 60 days, and you can use it at the stores listed here: http://www.google.com/checkout/signupwelcome.html. The minimum purchase amount must be equal to or greater than your bonus amount, before shipping and tax.

After August 15, 2007, you will no longer be able to view your purchased or rented videos.

If you have further questions or requests, please do not hesitate to contact us. Thank you for your continued support.

Sincerely,
The Google Video Team
Google Inc.
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, CA 94043

Imagine if these were DVDs: one day, a man from Deep Discount shows up at your door and says, "We're taking away all your videos. Sorry! But we'll give you a credit to spend at a different store. Not a credit for videos, though. Also: it expires in 60 days."

This is a giant, flaming middle finger, sent by Google and the studios to the customers who were dumb trusting enough to buy DRM videos. How many of these people will trust the next DRM play from Google (no doubt coming soon from YouTube) or the studios?

The terms that Google sold its video on were similar to those laid down by other downloadable video "stores," like Amazon Unbox. These stores claim to "sell" you things, but you can never truly own the things they sell -- they are your theoretical property only, liable to confiscation at any time. That's the lesson for DRM: only the big motion picture companies, search giants and other corporate overlords get to own property. We vassals are mere tenant-farmers, with a precarious claim on our little patch of dirt.

Hey, class-action lawyers! This seems like a golden opportunity.