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View Full Version : MPAA: instead of ripping dvds, point your camera at the tv set to record


Sandman
05-07-2009, 02:44 PM
Apparently now instead of ripping dvds for use in classrooms the MPAA is wanting teachers to point a video camera at the tv screen and record what they want to show in class. In a day of stupidity like the DJ Hero controller and The Cleveland Show renewal I think this actually wins the Stupid News of the Day award.

At the DMCA 1201 hearings at the Copyright Office at the Library of Congress, representatives from the MPAA showed a video demonstrating how users can videorecord a TV set. They argue this is an acceptable analog alternative to breaking copy protection on a DVD.

The hearings occur every three years to determine whether the Librarian at the Library of Congress (through direction of the Copyright Office) should create exemptions to the anti-circumvention provisions in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

In 2006, film and media professors were granted an exemption in order to break copy protection on DVDs so that they could utilize high quality video clips in classroom teaching. Up for consideration during the 2009 exemption hearings is whether this exemption should be extended to apply to faculty teaching in all disciplines, and whether the exemption should apply to students.There is even a video. (http://vimeo.com/4520463)

Doogie2K
05-07-2009, 02:48 PM
But I thought pointing the camera at the screen and recording that was already illegal. My head hurts.

Sandman
05-07-2009, 02:49 PM
But I thought pointing the camera at the screen and recording that was already illegal. My head hurts.

I think this only applies to dvds for educational use.

National Kato
05-07-2009, 02:51 PM
My head hurts.

Well, it is the MPAA.

Lance Uppercut
05-07-2009, 02:52 PM
That suggestion is so ghetto that it's hilarious.

biosc1
05-07-2009, 02:52 PM
Acceptable analog alternative?

...but what if I'm using a digital camera???????????

Shadowstorm
05-07-2009, 02:54 PM
So backwards.

National Kato
05-07-2009, 03:12 PM
Acceptable analog alternative?

...but what if I'm using a digital camera???????????

I believe the sticking point is if the resulting copy is lossless in quality. If you're making copies of films that look horrible (analog, shot-by-camera) they don't have much to fear in lost sales from consumers looking for DVD-quality.

shodan2020
05-07-2009, 03:43 PM
Sorry, MPAA you can call it as much as you want, but the cat is not going to go back into the bag.

LordDon
05-07-2009, 03:54 PM
That quote from Corey Doctorow about things only getting easier to copy from this point forward comes to mind.

Panthera
05-07-2009, 06:45 PM
Acceptable analog alternative?

...but what if I'm using a digital camera???????????

Then you'll have to make sure the photons are analog.

wyeast
05-07-2009, 06:52 PM
"Dear people of the United States.

In the future, if you absolutely MUST make a copy of a production for your personal "fair" use, we suggest the following -

Hand-sketch each frame into a clean flip-book.

And be sure to properly document your source at the lower right corner of each page.


.... no, really! It's totally reasonable!


Love, the MPAA"