Back up DVDs??? Legal??? Any ideas???

B2_LNW

Hi all,
I recently backed up a few dvd's in my collection to keep the originals in good condition. I was talking to a friend about it and he asked if I could do a few of his. So I did a couple for him as he does not have a computer. Yesterday he asked if I could do the Only fools and horses collection for his friend. If I remember rightly it is fine to do back ups if the person they are for has the original. His friend isn't local and he has asked me to post them to him. I cannot check he has originals? Is it legal?

There seems to be a demand for it (well 2 people, lol) so I assume it isn't legal that's why there isn't loads of people selling the service? (or is there?)

Look forward to the replies. Thanks in advance.

ajaxgeezer

You are allowed to own a backup of something that you have legally purchased and still own ie if you sell the original DVD then you have no rights to the backup any longer either.

If you have any doubts then it would be unwise to make backups and madness to post them.... if a package splits and you are traced then it would be tough to prove you didn't get paid for pirate copies.

In a nutshell, unless you are 100% sure he owns the originals then don't do the copies.

That's as I understand it anyway

brucie24

As ajax says it's fine to have copies of something that you own but that's as far as it goes.

If you are unsure you could ask this 'friend' to post the originals to you so you can copy them for him. However there is nothing to stop this person selling them on afterwards which is illeagal and as you actually made the copies you might be implicated as well.

Overall a bit of a grey area and probably one best avoided if you are not happy with what you are doing.