Poll: Is it piracy when you already own the material?

[Kermi]

If you download something and use/watch it, even if you own the discs/tapes/cartridge or whatever, it's piracy. Doesn't matter that you could watch/play it legit if you wanted. The point is that you didn't.

Maybe ethically you've done nothing wrong. Legally you have. Piracy is a legal concern, not necessarily an ethical one - pirates have a billion ways to justify their piracy most of which boils down to "no one's getting hurt, why does it matter?".

Doesn't stop the crime being committed.

 

[The Seldom Seen Kid]

Technically, yes, it is piracy.

It's not really evil though.

I still answered yes.

 

[Sindre1]

No.
And if it has yet to come out on DVD, only on TV, and you are planing on buying it then its ok aswell.
Not my fault I do not get new Doctor Who episodes on TV in Norway.

Takes about half a year from the finale until it gets a box-set, then some weeks in the mail.
I'm afraid of getting spoiled on the web the day after an episode gets aired for gods sake.

 

[TheWonko]

Fun fact: the DMCA allows copying of files and circumvention of DRM for "personal backups" and "security testing". So, if you were to copy the files from your own personal DVDs to your computer, that would be perfectly legal.

What the DMCA is less clear about is getting digital copies from someone else, when you own physical copies yourself. It's not TECHNICALLY illegal, but it is still in the "hazy" zone.

 

[Ziadaine_v1legacy]

(like, for instance, I bet you'd be hard pressed to find a functional OOT copy lying around)

....Confession, I have both OOT and MM (Collectors Edition) Cartridges for the N64, still working. D:

 

[Verlander]

Part of the agreement with buying films and games is that you use it for your own purposes, and don't display or use it communally, like in Prisons or Oil Rigs etc unless you buy a license to do so. This applies to backing the information up in case physical damage is dealt to the physical object. If you have obtained it from a separate source, you're treading on thin ice, but I'm pretty sure this is one of the only way to dodge a huge lawsuit-the fact that you did actually pay for it. You'd need proof of purchase though.

If this is how you want to justify piracy ethically though, beware, it's a slippery slope. Downloading something because once you paid for it, and downloading something because you were going to get it, but missed it or didn't have money at the time can be a fine line to cross

 

[xdom125x]

I'm entitled to some "fun" with movies or music or games, and I also NEED the software for college. Yes, I doubt in a court of law they would see it that way, but i take my chances and hope they see where i'm coming from.

I am pretty sure "the right to fun" doesn't exist anywhere. You may need a special computer software for college but that has nothing to do with making illegal copies of games, music, or movies. You may see "having fun as a right" but nobody else would agree with you. Watching movies, playing games, and listening to music are luxuries not rights or necessities so there isn't a time in anyone's life when it is acceptable to steal them.

 

[DanielDeFig]

No. You are fully (and i believe legally) allowed to make a digital copy of a digital product that you own, for back up or (if you failed to back up previously) recovery purposes.¨

Generally i believe in "Unlimited copies, but only for use for original licensed owner". But you brought up a very important point (especially for my family), with siblings and if they are allowed to use copies.
My family has always held the belief that with the exception of very personal toys (toys given to my brother personally, rather than to the children generally), all toys/music/movies/video games are public property of the children and the family, available for all to use equally and share. In the interest of trying out multiplayer, and reduce the fighting over who gets to play a certain game NOW, our dad decided to make a copy of a game (Specifically, Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds) for this purpose.

My reasoning (In hindsight. My dad is pretty liberal about piracy, so he didn't care. Guess who in the family most often frequents Pirate Bay?) is that since me and my brother were too young to be license holders (under 18, legal age of maturity), it was our parents who were the actual license holders. I may have paid for the game with my saved up pocket money, but the source of that money was our parents, so the legal owners of th game were our parents. They were theretofore simply making a legal copy of a game for their own personal use, even i they never played the game themselves.

The children they are legally responsible for using copies of the product, remains legal, since the children cannot be legally responsible for legally owning their own separate copies.

 

[Robborboy]

I am rather impressed by the number of people who have voted and do not know what piracy is.

When you buy something you buy ONLY the right to use the copy purchased. You DO NOT have the right to download a copy for whatever reason unless it is provided digitally by a certified vendor. In other words buying a digital copy or it is free/abandon-ware.

While morally it can be seen "gray" or even okay to download a copy of something you have already bought, legally, you are not allowed to.

In short, yes, it is piracy.

No. You are fully (and i believe legally) allowed to make a digital copy of a digital product that you own, for back up or (if you failed to back up previously) recovery purposes.¨

You are allowed to make a backup ONLY IF you do not have to circumvent any copy protection to do so. And even then, downloading != to backing up. And thus illegal.

 

[DemonicVixen]

I'm entitled to some "fun" with movies or music or games, and I also NEED the software for college. Yes, I doubt in a court of law they would see it that way, but i take my chances and hope they see where i'm coming from.

I am pretty sure "the right to fun" doesn't exist anywhere. You may need a special computer software for college but that has nothing to do with making illegal copies of games, music, or movies. You may see "having fun as a right" but nobody else would agree with you. Watching movies, playing games, and listening to music are luxuries not rights or necessities so there isn't a time in anyone's life when it is acceptable to steal them.

Of course thats you oppinion, but keep it in mind one day when YOU are stuck with nothing to do, no-where to go and you sit on a bed wondering what can be done.
Tidying: Done.
Homework: Done
Studied as much as you feel able
Cant afford any books, bored with the ones you have
Tired of the same old music
Tired of the same old games
No-one to talk to or play with (board games)
etc etc etc

Yeah, you tell me its fair that I should sit watching paint dry getting more and more depressed because I have nothing to take my mind off my problems. Unless you live my life, you'll never know what its like to realise how desperate we become to resort to CRIME to get at least SOME entertainment back. When you have no friends or family. Music, films and games are all you have.

 

[Grey_Focks]

If you pay money, then do something wrong, it's okay, right?

Nope.

That's idiotic.

I own a dvd, I make a back up, it's okay, right?

Yes.

Both morality and ethics tell us that piracy relates to theft of properties... but how is it theft when you have paid for the information and you're merely copying it?

Is photocopying pages of a RPG book considered 'wrong'?

How about scanning various pages so you can create a quick-ref doc for your convenience?

Oh wait, that's not 'wrong' either.

If you pay for a product, how you utilise that product isn't 'wrong' as long as it relates directly to it's intended purpose of entertaining a person who purchased it.

If I pay money for a product designed to entertain me, then how I go about making alterations (Such as homebrew rules, or scanning pages to improve response time to player queries) is a natural exploration and extension of what it is to use a product responsibly.

Having two hard copies of a rulebook is pointless. Having one copy of a rulebook and a digital copy improves gameplay.

Is being able to access your games on steam from two different computers 'wrong'?

Save your breath, I remember that gent from another piracy thread....there's no having an actual debate with him, it's just "I'm right, you're wrong".

OT: Very gray area, honestly. Personally? I'd say you're fine, as I may have done the same thing, and the way I see it, you're not denying them profit, as I sincerely doubt you would have bought it again just for your laptop. Same with the emulator, honestly, as you already own the data. Legally, on the other-hand....pretty sure it's still illegal, but don't quote me on that.

 

[Conza]

Hmm, it almost seems like I could've had a third alternative to the black and white 'yes or no'.

Quite a few people have said 'Yes, but it's ok', but by the number of people that have voted 'No', suggests that those people didn't vote Yes.

Again, this really is an opinion based discussion here, as the legality and morality aren't one in the same, so whether or not you're completely uninterested in the law and think its ok, or the other extreme, think its not ok, regardless of the law which you would therefore agree with, or anything inbetween, means there is no right answer... for everyone.

 

[alandavidson]

snip

You have a very valid point, but I think there's nothing wrong with the OP's actions. Even if you do consider them illegal or bad, it's still the better of two evils, and the more positive outcome for people like you :

OP has already bought the DVD, he paid money for it, there buy increasing the profit of the company producing it, if he downloads it simply to watch it, because he doesn't have the DVD with him, it is still a far better thing for the company and the workers creating said product.
Because the other option would be, that he doesn't buy the DVD, he downloads it and never pays for it, that's no profit for the company ever. If people only pirated because they didn't have their own copy with them, there would probably be no complaing about piracy at all.

There are always such arguments, that if you have a Honda at home, you can't just take someone else's off the street while abroad, because you don't have your car with you, but I think there's a difference between a few bucks worth of entertainment software, and a car worth a thousand times more.
Plus you can always rent a car, if you need one badly, while something to watch on holiday isn't such a big dilemma. The OP could have just watched something else on the TV, that still would have meant no more extra profit for the company producing the DVD ... so I think no harm is done this way.

Your "logic" is what's killing people like me. You say, "it's not like I'm stealing a car". I get at maximum $6 per DVD sale. That's not a lot of money. There has to be thousands of sales for it to even really help me out. The argument that it's "only a couple of dollars of entertainment software" really doesn't hold water.

 

[alandavidson]

Hmm, it almost seems like I could've had a third alternative to the black and white 'yes or no'.

Quite a few people have said 'Yes, but it's ok', but by the number of people that have voted 'No', suggests that those people didn't vote Yes.

Again, this really is an opinion based discussion here, as the legality and morality aren't one in the same, so whether or not you're completely uninterested in the law and think its ok, or the other extreme, think its not ok, regardless of the law which you would therefore agree with, or anything inbetween, means there is no right answer... for everyone.

Legality and morality in all actuality are one in the same. According to my personal moral code I could steal someone's television and be justified in doing so because I don't have a TV, I need the money I'll get from selling the TV, etc. That's where law has to step in and be a morality source because my actions, which are based on my personal moral code, overstep the social moral code.

An easier way to look at it is to look at law being social morality is to look at the US Declaration of Independence, particularly the line "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happyness (sic)." Civil law works on the premise that as long as my life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness do not interfere with anyone else's life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness, then we can all live happily together. But once my actions disturb someone else's unalienable rights, I have stepped out of line and law must take over. Even though my stealing of your television is self-justified within my personal morality system, my actions disturb your life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.

I hope that makes sense. It really doesn't matter what it is, software, cars, TV's, it still disturbs a person's unalienable rights when you steal it.

 

[FalloutJack]

Put simply: No.

There are movies and media that actually provide digital computer-compatible copies of the material. Given that, you can't be a pirate for owning it.

 

[FightThePower]

First of all, that wouldn't be piracy because piracy is when you download something then sell it illegally i.e. make a living out of other people's work, you mean illegal downloading/stealing. In my eyes it isn't stealing in this particular situation, but the law might see it differently.

I heard that using an Emulator is perfectly legal if you own the product, not sure if it is true.

 

[IamQ]

If I already own a Volvo, but I can't get it to work, is it okay for me to steal a Volvo then?