TechLifeBlogged

HollywoodReporter: The U.S. Copyright Office has rejected an exemption that would have allowed owners of DVDs to legally copy movies for use on Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod and other music players. But film professors now have the right to copy snippets from DVDs for educational compilations, the Copyright Office said Wednesday.

This is quite interesting. A lot of people go around quoting 'fair use'. I'll not exclude myself from that group so let's have a look at what the U.S. Copyright Office has to say. Fair use is spelled out in Copyright Act of 1976, 17 U.S.C. § 107.

§ 107. Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use
Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include —
(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;
(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.

So, since I'm not a critic or a professor or a reporter, I guess I can't legally copy onto a portable player. What if I grayed up the waters and blogged about that movie I saw on my iPod? :o)
Interestingly, I found this quote from the RIAA:

If you choose to take your own CDs and make copies for yourself on your computer or portable music player, that's great. It's your music and we want you to enjoy it at home, at work, in the car and on the jogging trail.

Use it, don't share it is their stand.
If anyone has any thoughts, comments or links to share let me know.
Tags: mpaa, riaa, fair use, copyright, dvd, ipod