Quote:
Originally Posted by pdurrant
I do not believe it is illegal* to remove DRM from a product that one has legally obtained in either the USA or the UK. Would you care to give a reference to either a USA or UK law that you believe states that it is?
[...]
* criminally illegal - i.e. a crime for which the government could prosecute you.
** civilly illegal - i.e. a deed for which the copyright holder could bring a civil case against you
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By the first definition of illegal, no, by the second, yes.
Generally:
Removing DRM necessarily involves making a copy of the product. You are only allowed to do that within the parameters the copyright owner has set out. Unless they have allowed DRM removal, you are violating their copyright by making your DRM-free derivative work.
Same issues as ripping CDs to MP3s.
Specifically:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/...egulation-24-1
Quote:
Circumvention of technological measures
296ZA—(1) This section applies where—
(a)effective technological measures have been applied to a copyright work other than a computer program; and
(b)a person (B) does anything which circumvents those measures knowing, or with reasonable grounds to know, that he is pursuing that objective.
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This is an implementation of Article 6 of the European Copyright Directive:
Quote:
Article 6
Obligations as to technological measures
1. Member States shall provide adequate legal protection against the circumvention of any effective technological measures, which the person concerned carries out in the knowledge, or with reasonable grounds to know, that he or she is pursuing that objective.
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