Are "backups" illegal?

[george8005]

I've been going through the amendments to the Copyright Act and I can find stuff on preservation copying for music etc, but nothing on games.

Then I went to the Attorney General's website and read some fact sheets -


It says it's cool for music etc, but for games it says "copying of computer games is not allowed."

Is there a lawyer in the house? Someone who can comment on this rationally, please?! Because i'm feeling a little irrational at the moment!

[Philquad]

drugs are illegal
so is child porn
priests and boys
driving dui
hitting your kids
just add it to the list.

[roguefan99]

Its interesting, that law was brought in for transcoding, and I thought thats what the law stated but looking at the fact sheet it might be legal to make a copy of a CD thats a direct copy, although I note that the sheet doesn't specify this.

As for backups of games its illegal, plus if you look at the last line of the fact sheet on music it notes that you cant remove the copy protection, and for the majority of games if you make a backup you need to remove the copy protection to play the game anyway so it makes the point a bit moot. I actually think the note where it comments about copy protection is a sign of things to come, that all the big companies that produce music will put copy protection on their discs in an effort to circumvent the fair use part of the laws.

Personally I have no real problems with personal backups, as someone who has lost 5 legit DVDs to DVD rot and had to return others because they have been warped when I have brought them, I think either the companies that complain about this should lift their standards, or maybe they should allow personal backups.

[gordon_s1942]

unless you have paid for permission, you dont have the right to copy 'Nuttin' !!!, not even the writtings on the back of the dunny door at your local Pee-torium.
Its all 'Intellectual Property' which regreatably makes it illegal for a 'Backup' to be made BUT after seeing on TV a raid of bootleggers with 50 plus copies of movies not even released,can you blame them ?

[rob916]

In my books if you own it you have the right to back it up.
See you in court, with all the stuff I recorded from the telly on VHS. lmao

[BCNZ]

drugs are illegal
so is child porn
priests and boys
driving dui
hitting your kids
just add it to the list.

This is a famous argument that has raged on for years.
In my book, just because something is illegal, doesn't automatically make it "wrong".

A good example are the age of consent laws. In one country it's 18, in another country it's 14. Explain the logic in that.
We are still dealing with people, who have brains, can think for themselves, can make rational decisions about their lives - yet the state tells you whether or not they think it is allowable.
So rather than deciding what is acceptable universally, each country makes up their own mind.

When it comes to copyright, it's another grey area. From my perspective, if I spend hours making something, then I expect to get paid for it.

However, I only expect to get paid once. I make one item, I sell it once, so one payment. If I made one item (for example I painted a picture then scanned it) so that I could sell it to many people, then I would get one payment from each person I sold it to.

I build FM transmitters. The parts cost me a certain amount, I spend X number of hours building and testing it, then I sell it for one fixed price, to one person.

That person may use it dozens of times, but I don't get extra money every time they use it.

A recording artist creates a song, the band sings it. The artist or the band gets paid every time the song is sold (CD etc) but they also get paid AGAIN every time the song is used (on the radio, in a commercial etc).

They are definitely on a winning ticket.