UK government informs public about legalizing CD and DVD ripping

The United Kingdom is going to relax copyright laws so that consumers can now legally rip DVDs and CDs. Other use of content in the context of ‘fair use’ will also be legalised. A public campaign has now been launched.

Currently in the UK it is not legal to make a private copy of the content on a CD or a DVD, but politicians decided in December to put an end to this after a public consultation. Under revised copyright laws, to be introduced in June, consumers will now be allowed to rip their own CDs and DVDs for personal use.

The British government has now launched a campaign to inform the public about the changed legislation, TorrentFreak reports. In addition, it is now also allowed to use copyrighted content in other fair use scenarios, such as when making parodies or citing sources. However, sharing copied content, for example via p2p networks, remains explicitly prohibited.

While the revised legislation effectively legalizes a practice that has been in vogue for many years among UK consumers too, the government says the changes make copyright ‘more reasonable’. In addition, the British government believes that legalizing the copying of copyrighted material for personal use could generate more revenue for the tech industry. An estimate is given of 31 million pounds annually, approximately 37 million euros.