The Right to own DVD

A report article in the Malaysian paper, The Star, about penalties for having illegal DVDs, even for private use. Obviously, pirate copies of publicly-available films on DVD are clearly wrong. It must be unlawful to copy a DVD version of the film, to record it off-air or to use a camera to grab a copy in the cinema.

What about when the film is not available? That seems to be the argument in Malaysia. There's also an argument based on the price at which it's available. Of course, illegal copying of anything would disappear immediately if the anything were available free of charge. Film producers, and record companies, must set their prices at the level at which they expect to maximise profits. Just because one can't afford the DVD, or CD, doesn't mean one can procure an illegal copy.

Well, back in the days when where people taped the records because couldn't afford to buy it.There's the scarcity argument. The people who made the records could face prosecution but the fans who bought them did no legal wrong. Nearly everyone takes a much more prorietary view of their rights now: plus, record companies and film studios are rather bigger entities, with more shareholders to satisfy. The people who make copies of music and films that they cannot afford are and must always be infringers: they should never be criminals. People who make unlawful copies on a commercial scale are and must always be infringers: whether they are also criminals is another matter, and I would say let the industry enforce civil rights before hastening to criminalise the activity, which often forms part of a wider range of activities which is clearly criminal anyway and price the product to make it available to all!

=yinyen gan=