'Content Ripping' To Be Legalized!

Shortly, it will no more be illegal to rip CDs or DVDs for personal use. The British government is all set to declare the change as it consents some of the recommendations of the wide-ranging Hargreaves Review of UK copyright law. The review was meant to identify legislation that has been outdated by technological change. Besides legalizing "format shifting", it also proposed relaxing rules on parody and producing an agency to license copyrighted content.

#-Link-Snipped-#Business secretary Vince Cable is set to declare the official response to the Hargreaves Review at a press conference. The government, to a great degree, is anticipated to accept and pledge to implement many parts of the review. Millions of people frequently convert movies on DVDs and music on CDs into a format that they can move around more easily, while most do not realize that it technically illegal. Simon Levine, head of the intellectual property and technology group at DLA Piper said, "The review pointed out that if you have a situation where 90% of your population is doing something, then it's not really a very good law."

Legalizing non-commercial copying for private use would cause UK to line with many other nations and also meet the "reasonable expectations" of consumers, stated the government. The change won't consider it legal to make copies and then share them online. The legal deviation preventing personal "ripping" was one of many identified by Professor Ian Hargreaves in the review as oppressive innovation. One technology found out by the law was the Brennan JB7 music player that allows owners to copy their CDs onto a hard drive that can be accessed from around a home. The Advertising Standards Authority exacted Brennan advise customers that using the JB7 breaks the law.

Some legal experts look upon the acceptance of format shifting, combined with relaxations on manipulating works for the purpose of parody, covered the way for creative people to use content in different ways. Susan Hall, a media specialist at law firm Cobbetts LLP, said the changes would give many artists "room to breathe" and remove the nervousness they might feel when using another work as inspiration.

According to Government drops website blocking - BBC News, an example that would be allowed under the new regime is the Welsh rap song Newport State of Mind which was based on Jay Z and Alicia Keys's song Empire State of Mind. Despite winning many fans on YouTube, the track was removed conforming to a copyright claim by EMI. It is still usable on other websites.Ms Hall said, "There are all sorts of things that are genuine artistic works which are nevertheless based on parody, caricature and pastiche." Modified laws on copyright could have a heavy effect on the popular culture that can be created, even though one that was hard to measure, she added. One example is that of Doctor Who writers Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat who began their careers writing fan fiction about the time lord. This creative synergies could become more common in a more liberal copyright climate, suggested Ms Hall. "Rights holders are often very nervous about things like this but when you come down to it, it's the people that buy everything who also go to the trouble of writing and creating more. It's about riffing off, not passing off," she said.