Tama’s eLearning Blog

One of the restrictions I hate the most is the legal restriction on breaking copyright protection on DVDs (which is so easy to do), despite the fact that playing ripped clips from DVDs is so much easier than have to cue up a DVD in the player before a lecture starts and then hope that the cue doesn’t reset before you get around to playing the clip. Although from the perspective of US law, I found this article from Edgar Huang in the latest Convergence of real value:

A DVD Dilemma: Ripping for Teaching

Edgar Huang

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, USA, ehuang@iupui.edu

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) has made ripping Macrovision- or CSSprotected DVDs illegal, but university instructors and students need accessible videos in a digital format for pedagogical purposes. This legal analysis has compared the DMCA with the TEACH Act and the fair use doctrine in the Copyright Act in an attempt to find a viable solution to this dilemma. The study has provided alternative and creative approaches to DVD ripping while finding it necessary to pursue a legal amendment to the DMCA.

Key Words: copyright • Digital Millennium Copyright Act • DVD ripping • fair use • Macrovision

Of course, at the end of the day Huang’s voice is simply another calling for a better system of fair use, or fair dealing in Australia, that maintains certain protections but which also permits teachers to use media in the best way possible for teaching, not just for copyright. One, I guess, there will be enough voices … I hope.