The U.S. Copyright Office has issued the final rule for the "Exemption to Prohibition on Circumvention of Copyright Protection Systems for Access Control Technologies."
Of particular interest is section "IV. Classes Considered But Not Recommended, D. Motion Pictures and Other Works on DVDs and Other Media—Space Shifting," which starts on page 58.
Here's an excerpt:
Proponent Public Knowledge stated a desire to move lawfully acquired motion pictures on DVDs to consumer electronic devices, such as tablet computers and laptop computers, that lack DVD drives. It asserted that consumers' inability to play lawfully acquired DVDs on the newest devices adversely affected noninfringing uses of the works contained on DVDs, and that a reasonable solution was for these consumers to copy the motion pictures into a format that could be viewed on the new devices. . . .
Public Knowledge cited RIAA v. Diamond Multimedia Systems Inc., 180 F.3d 1072 (1999), and Sony Corporation of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc., 464 U.S. 417 (1984), in support of its contention that space shifting is a noncommercial personal use, and therefore a fair use. . . .
The Register recognized that there is significant consumer interest in the proposed exemption. Proponents, however, had the burden of demonstrating that the requested use was noninfringing. Neither of the two key cases relied upon by proponents, however, addresses or informs the space shifting activities at issue. . . .
The Register further observed that the law does not guarantee access to copyrighted material in a user's preferred format or technique. Indeed, copyright owners typically have the legal authority to decide whether and how to exploit new formats. The Register noted that while the law may someday evolve to accommodate some of proponents' proposed uses, more recent cases touching upon space shifting confirm that the fair use implications of various forms of space shifting are far from settled. . . .
In urging that space shifting is a fair use, Public Knowledge characterized the copying of motion pictures for use on personal devices as a "paradigmatic noncommercial personal use" that could facilitate a transformative use. It further asserted that integrating reproductions of motion pictures from DVDs into a consumer's media management software was analogous to the integration of thumbnail images into internet search engines found to be a transformative use in Perfect 10, Inc. v. Amazon.com, Inc., 487 F.3d 701 (9th Cir. 2007).
The Register did not agree with this analysis. In her view, the incorporation of reproductions of motion pictures from DVDs into a consumer's media management software is not equivalent to the provision of public search engine functionality. Rather, it is simply a means for an individual consumer to access content for the same entertainment purpose as the original work. Put another way, it does not "add[] something new, with a further purpose or different character, altering the first with new expression, meaning," or advance criticism, comment, or any other interest enumerated in the preamble of Section 107. The Register therefore concluded that the first fair use factor did not favor a finding of fair use. The Register additionally determined that where creative works were being copied in their entirety, factors two and three also weighed against fair use, and that there was an inadequate basis in the record to conclude that the developing market for the online distribution of motion pictures would not be harmed by the proposed uses.
Finally, the Register concluded that proponents had failed to demonstrate that the use of a reasonably priced peripheral, a different device, or an online subscription service to access and play desired content did not offer a reasonable alternative to circumvention. Accordingly, the Register was not persuaded that the inability to engage in the space shifting activities described by proponents is having a substantial adverse impact on consumers' ability to make noninfringing uses of copyrighted works.
Read more about it at "United States Copyright Office: Ripping Is Illegal."
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