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We already have this right in the US, it is called Fair Use. Unfortunately even though we have the right to say, make a backup of a DVD, there is nothing to stop companies from trying to make it harder to do so. This was the big hoohaa over the Digitial Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) because it basically says you cannot undermine security or encryption measures, which means for your commercial DVDs which are encrypted, you still have the right to back it up for personal use but you do not have the right to bypass the encryption. A nice little end-around to bypass Fair Use eh? You can still back it up by say, running the signal through a VCR and recording it or any other way you can find that does not break the encryption.
And that Andrew Gowers review in the UK was the same review that recommended the UK not extend copyright to match the US's ridiculous amount of time, they found it was anti-consumer to do so. But the UK extended it any way, give with one hand, take away with the other.
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