Disclaimer: This FAQ is general, and answers may vary in individual cases and from country to country. Please check with your local Consumers' Group for further information, or get in touch with BEUC with other specific questions you would like to see addressed.
What is a copyright? Copyright and I DRM What is a copyright? An author has certain, limited exclusive rights to exploit his work. This can be for example the right to make copies, the right to sell copies of a book or a CD or to broadcast his music. Copyrights can also be the right to make a translation or to make a film from a book, to name but some examples. Only the holder of the exclusive right is entitled to do so, and everybody else who wants to reproduce, distribute or communicate a work to the public must first get a permission (license) from the right holder.
The right holder may or may not ask for remuneration or impose other conditions to use a work. However some creative artists simply prefer recognition and the widest possible distribution of their works.
Is there a difference between copyright and other kinds of property rights? Yes. A copyright is different from other property rights, such as the right of landownership, in many respects. The main difference is that copyright is limited in time and enters into the public domain after that time limit. Another difference is that copyright foresees situations in which another person can, in the public interest, use the work without permission (such as in the private sphere or for educational purposes). One example is the right to make a copy from a CD for private use. Another example is the right to quote from an article or to copy some pages of a book to present them in class the next day.
Are copyright laws the same in all countries? No. In principal, each country has its own copyright law although Member States of the European Union have - to a certain extent – attempted to harmonize their laws with the effect that some elements of national copyright law are the same or resemble each other. Still, there are national differences from country to country.
What is protected by copyright? All kinds of artistic, scientific, literary or musical works. These include books, newspapers, theatre plays, speeches, ballet, music, paintings, photos, maps, films and computer programmes.
A work must fulfil certain conditions to be protected by copyright:
- It has to be a man-made creation.
- It must be sufficiently "original". Of course, there are huge differences in what is perceived as “original”, but as a rule of thumb, the work must carry the personal stamp of its creator, who invested time, effort, skill and knowledge into it. Simple facts, scientific laws, laws and court decisions, etc. are not protected.
- It must have found outer expression in some form or another.
An idea, even a creative one, is not protected.
Do the producers of CDs or DVDs have copyright, too? No. CD or DVD producers, in other words the record companies, have no copyright. However, they can have a so called "related" or “neighbouring" right on the CD or DVD. This neighbouring right is meant to compensate producers for the time and effort invested in making the CD, and can include similar rights to copyright, such as the exclusive right to make copies of the CD, distribute or play the CD in public (for example in a nightclub).
There can be situations in which the author has transferred certain or all of his copyrights to the CD producer. As a result, the record company can exercise the rights that belonged originally to the author. The transfer of rights is quite a common practice among record companies and DVD producers, often driven by their power over artists.
Do copyrights last forever? No. As a general rule, the duration of a copyright in Europe is 70 years after the death of the author. His copyrights are often inherited and exercised by his heirs. After the protection period has expired the work falls into the "public domain", meaning that everybody is free to use the work. You can play Beethoven and make Shakespeare available on the Internet if you like. The public domain is important because it enables creators to build upon existing creations our past without asking permission or trying to locate the owner of the exclusive right (which is not always easy). Creativity relies on a broad public domain.
Can I have copyrights myself, for example if I write a text in a blog or podcast a song that I made up? Yes, if you have created a text, a piece of music, or a painting, and if this work is sufficiently original, you qualify as an author. In this case, you have the same rights as any author. No further acts are required for you to benefit from copyright protection.
What if I don’t want my blog to be copy-protected or want to give everybody permission to share and make copies? The simplest to share your blog is via a new distribution model such as the Creative Commons license (www.creativecommons.org). If you don't use one, your work remains under tight copyright and some umbrella organisations such as those currently ruling over the music business, can act without your approval to enforce copyrights – even yours. A Creative Commons license serves as legal protection for those who want to engage in the spread of free culture.
Does copyright law mean that a copyright holder can prohibit me from listening to music, reading a book or quoting an article? No. Copyrights are a restricted bundle of rights, which means the author cannot prohibit all uses of a work, but only those for which he has exclusive rights. There is no exclusive right to control the listening of a piece of music or the reading of a book.
Quotations are different, because they make a work available to the public and are as such covered by copyright. However, you can benefit from an exception to copyright, for example if you want to quote a work for scientific reasons or for purposes of criticism. In such a situation, most national laws will say that you may quote the work, providing the work has been made publicly available, and provided you mention the source and name of the author. Also, your quotation may not be unreasonably large. The details are regulated in national copyright laws and can differ from country to country.
Can I make a copy of a CD or DVD that I own, for example to play in my car radio or to make back-up copies? Yes, as long as you do this for your personal use, not for commercial purposes, and as long as the number of copies you make is limited (the number of copies that qualifies as personal use differs from country to country). In case you copy a book for example, you are not allowed to copy the whole book but only small parts you need for your own use.
It can happen that the CD or DVD producer has specified contractually the number of copies you can make or prohibits copies altogether, for example by writing it on the CD jacket. It is not at all clear whether contractual conditions can override your right to private copying, except in the case of on-demand services for which it is expressively stated so. Even if the producer of the CD or distributor of the song has made this very clear and transparent to you, the legal situation is, for the time being, unclear. There has actually been a case in France where a consumer who was deprived of the possibility to make a private copy was granted refund. The reason that the court gave was that the consumer was not sufficiently informed about the fact that no copies could be made. What you can do in any case is to refuse to buy the CD. You can also try to give it back to the shop, some shops will accept. Check the CDs, there are many labels that do not believe in copy protection. You can also turn to your national consumer protection agency for advice.
Can I rip a CD I bought and make MP3 Files? Ripping is a form of copying. This means that as long as you make MP3 files for your own use, this is usually ok as far as copyright law is concerned. But the legal situation can differ from country to country. Some EU Member States do not allow digital copying for private use.
Can I make a copy for a friend? And for my neighbour? This depends on the definition of private use and this definition can differ from country to country. Usually, it is ok to make copies for good friends and family, whereas making a copy for your neighbour will probably no longer fall under private use.
Can I copy & paste pictures I found on the Internet onto my own website? In principle no, not without the permission of the right holder. But you may benefit from an exemption to the exclusive right, for example if you want to criticize or use them for educational purposes. Also, some authors of works on the Internet use specific forms of licenses which allow you to copy them, look for Creative Commons or GNU licenses for example.
A friend lent me a CD. Can I make a copy for myself? In principle yes. However the definition of private use can differ from country to country.
Can I listen to a CD I bought on different devices? And what if a friend lent me this CD? You can listen to the CD, also on different devices. There is no exclusive right to control the listening of a work.
Can I sell my CD to a friend? You can resell CDs that you bought in a shop. However, it is unclear what the situation is with digital files, for example if you buy a song from iTunes and want to re-sell it.
Can I loan out my DVDs to friends? In general, you can lend the DVDs you bought to a friend, provided this is done limited in time, and not for direct or indirect commercial purposes.
What is peer-to-peer file-sharing (P2P) and is P2P unlawful? P2P is a technology which enables you to exchange files with others via the internet. P2P networks include Napster, Grokster, Gnutella, eDonkey etc. It can be perfectly legitimate to exchange files, for example because you have the permission from the author to exchange them, because you are the author yourself, because the protection period for this content has expired, or because the content in question is not protected under copyright law, such as laws or court cases. There are also commercial P2P networks where you can download copyright protected music legally with the permission of the author.
Whether the exchange of files in other situations is unlawful also depends on the law of the member state you live in. In some member states, such as the Netherlands, uploading, i.e. opening your hard disk for others to download the music, is unlawful, while downloading is perfectly permissible as long as this is done for personal use only.
How can I find out what I can do with digital content? In principle, national copyright law defines what you can do but many grey areas remain. Industry is deliberately campaigning in one-sided ways and mainly telling you what you cannot do, but not what you actually can do. Best thing is to check with your national consumer organization.
What happens if I infringe copyrights? If you offer for example music for which you are not the right holder for download, or perform other acts that infringe upon the copyright of the right holder, you might have to face civil and also criminal sanctions, even though you may have done so for non-commercial usage. Civil sanctions can be raised against you in form of damages or an injunction, ordering you to stop the infringing behaviour. Penal sanctions are in place in some Member States that can involve seizure of the material, money penalties or even jail. Again, the actual penalty or punishment very much depends on the law of the country in question.
What is DRM? DRM stands for Digital Rights Management. In practice, DRM is a technology to control the distribution and use of electronic works. DRM systems are applied to media products which are protected by copyright and can be embedded in both the physical distribution of CDs, DVDs and other media as well as in online distribution, such as online delivery of music files, e-books, games, or pay TV and video-on-demand. Examples of online services using DRM are download services, such as Apples iTunes or online-newspaper articles that you can read only after registration or only for an hour.
Is DRM a good thing or a bad thing? DRM is advertised as offering consumers advantages because it opens up new service offers, especially on the internet. Indeed, some right holders refuse to authorize the online distribution of their works unless there is some technological content protection in place. Until now, DRM technologies have mainly been used to the detriment of consumers and have restricted traditional usages.
How can I see that DRM is used? By just by looking at a CD, DVD, or a filename, you will not be able to see whether DRM is used or not. You might notice that DRM is used only when you try to play or copy a file or send it to a friend.
Some companies using DRM indicate it on the CD jacket but there is no standard yet.
I cannot watch a DVD that I brought back to Amsterdam from my last trip to the US on my DVD player. Why? It is very likely that your DVD is protected by a so called region code. This is a piece of software on a DVD and in your DVD player that makes sure that you can play it only in a particular region, namely the one for which your DVD player or computer is programmed. Some devices, such as Playstation, and computers offer the possibility to choose the region code several times. Studios impose the use of region codes to market and release films in different phases across the world. As a consequence, studios have divided the world into several regions: USA, Canada are region 1, Europe, Middle East, Japan and South Africa are 2, South Korea, Taiwan and the ASEAN countries are 3, Australia, New Zealand and South America 4, the ex-Soviet Union, India and the rest of Africa 5 and China 6. Note that regional codes do not protect copyrights but represent a market segmentation that is detrimental to consumer interests. While the manufacturer is able to market his DVDs in all regions you can only buy your DVDs in one region.
I bought music from iTunes. But I could make only 7 copies. What is wrong? iTunes uses technology (and contract law) to limit the number of copies that you are allowed to burn one play list maximum seven times.
But what about my right to make private copies? If you use on-demand services, the right to private copying can be reduced or excluded. The private copying exception does not specify how many copies you may make, leaving iTunes free to specify the number. Even in the case of copy-protected CDs, it may be difficult for you to enforce your right to private copying in front of a court .
There are services where I cannot make any copies at all. What about the private copying exceptions? In principle, you still benefit from the private copying exception. The problem is that the use of a DRM system can in practice prevent you from doing so. DRM can go beyond present legislation. Under the present law, it is generally not illegal for DRM users to prevent you from making copies. In some Member States, however, DRM users can be obliged to enable you to benefit from the private copying or other exceptions, even when DRMs are used. (in Germany and Denmark specific provisions exist – you can check the overview at www.euro-copyrights.org).
Do I have to accept restrictions to private copying? Where I can complaint? To begin with, you can refuse to buy media that do not allow you to make private copies. You can also inform your consumer organization. For example, in France consumer organisations filed cases on the basis of consumer complaints in front of national courts to defend the position of consumers. You can also complain to the shop owner who sold you the CD or DVD, to the CD producer or even the artist. Especially in countries where DRM users do not yet face an obligation to make certain uses possible, a complaint would be at least a statement that you are not willing to buy products that do not live up to your expectations.
I heard that there are programs to get rid of DRMs. Is it legal to use them? In principle, it is not legal to circumvent technological protection measures (TPMs), even if you believe that you benefit from an exception or a limitation in copyright law. This is also true for producing, selling or sharing them with the public. However, this is a field that contains some room for interpretation and thus legal uncertainty.
What can happen if I do it anyway? This depends on the law of the country you are in and whether you circumvent devices for commercial or private purposes. Possible sanctions range from civil sanctions to criminal sanctions (money penalty, jail, etc.)
I heard that DRM can affect my privacy. Why is this? Some DRMs collect personal data about you and your user behaviour. Some DRMs can even send this information to the service provider without you noticing. When you buy digital content online or offline media such as CDs and DVDs, carefully read the privacy policy of your vendor.
