Hi everybody, As always, I am not a lawyer, so this should not be construed as constituting legal advice! That said, 17 U.S. Code § 1201(a)(3)(A)<https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/1201> defines “circumvent a technological measure” as meaning “to descramble a scrambled work, to decrypt an encrypted work, or otherwise to avoid, bypass, remove, deactivate, or impair a technological measure, without the authority of the copyright owner,” [my emphasis, natch] so it seems pretty clear to me that if you have permission from the copyright holder, you aren’t actually circumventing the copy protection as defined by the DMCA.
Andy Horbal Head of Learning Commons 1101 McKeldin Library University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742 (301) 405-9227 [email protected] From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Jessica Rosner Sent: Wednesday, May 20, 2015 10:28 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Videolib] Have permission to copy VHS series to DVD--but cannot locate a copy-able tape! I was thinking the same thing Sarah but in this case it would not help since she needs an entire work but again since she has permission of rights holder not really an issue. Jessica On Wed, May 20, 2015 at 9:18 AM, Sarah E. McCleskey <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: Hi Kathy, IMHO, that’s really just not true. There are exceptions, for example, when breaking encryption is perfectly acceptable. See http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2010/10-169.html Those may not be the most up to date exceptions as the Librarian of Congress has to issue them again every 3 years. But you get the point. Those exemptions specifically refer to DVDs, but goes to show that the blanket statement that overriding any type of protection is a violation of the DMCA is too broad. There are always exceptions. Additionally, the actual text of Section 1201 states “(c) Other Rights, Etc., Not Affected.—(1) Nothing in this section shall affect rights, remedies, limitations, or defenses to copyright infringement, including fair use, under this title.” (https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/1201) And the thing is, you have permission from the copyright holder. I think that trumps anything in the DMCA. Sarah From: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> [mailto:[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>] On Behalf Of Kathy Edwards Sent: Tuesday, May 19, 2015 1:40 PM To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Subject: Re: [Videolib] Have permission to copy VHS series to DVD--but cannot locate a copy-able tape! Good question. The direct quote from Head of Digital Scholarship is “Overriding any type of copyright protection is a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, even if doing so is not an infringement of copyright.” From: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Sarah E. McCleskey Sent: Tuesday, May 19, 2015 11:46 AM To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Subject: Re: [Videolib] Have permission to copy VHS series to DVD--but cannot locate a copy-able tape! I don’t understand why overriding the copy protection would be illegal when you have permission from the copyright holder??? Sarah Sarah E. McCleskey Head of Access Services, Film and Media 112 Axinn Library 123 Hofstra University Hempstead, NY 11549 516-463-5076<tel:516-463-5076> [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> From: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Kathy Edwards Sent: Tuesday, May 19, 2015 11:05 AM To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Subject: [Videolib] Have permission to copy VHS series to DVD--but cannot locate a copy-able tape! Here’s our quandary: Our university library owns the series Nature Perfected: The Story of the Garden, made in 1995. It’s a six-volume set on VHS and not available on DVD or in any other format, to the best of my knowledge. Two of our landscape architecture profs want to continue using these tapes, but the tapes are wearing out. We sought and received permission from the copyright owner, William Howard Adams, to transfer the content to DVD. He even asked us to send him copies on DVD, since he only owned his own series on videotape. Conversion went well for five of the six tapes, but volume 2 was already too worn and stretched—the DVD was useless, as it the tape. We purchased a replacement for the VHS of volume 2 only to discover that the tape is copy-protected—cannot be copied to DVD on any machine we own. There is a lab on campus that may be able to bypass the copy protection, but our Digital Scholarship librarian says “No—overriding the protection is illegal.” So I asked Mr Adams to send us his VHS tape of volume 2, in hopes that it could be copied (after all, copying our originals was easy—no protections in place on those). Turns out his VHS copy is ALSO copy-protected. It’s ridiculous to be in the position of having to shop for a non-protected copy of a tape we already own, especially since our original copy did not present this problem. What’s the quickest/easiest solution to obtaining a legal DVD of this volume in the series? Are we doing something obviously dumb and dense, that we haven’t figured this out? In which case, please reply off-list! (Mr Adams will also be grateful, if he gets his own DVD copy out of our efforts.) TIA, Kathy Edwards Research & Collection Development Librarian Emery A. Gunnin Architecture Library Clemson University [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> (864) 656-4289<tel:%28864%29%20656-4289> [CUsigIcon] VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of issues relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic control, preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in libraries and related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as an effective working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of communication between libraries,educational institutions, and video producers and distributors.
VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of issues relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic control, preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in libraries and related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as an effective working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of communication between libraries,educational institutions, and video producers and distributors.
