Most people today who own a computer with a CD/DVD drive have, at one time in their life, burned a CD. The practice is...

Most people today who own a computer with a CD/DVD drive have, at one time in their life, burned a CD. The practice is currently illegal in the UK. But things are about to change as the UK Government has published a guide informing people about an upcoming revision of the UK copyright laws, which will legalize CD and DVD copying for personal use.

This is a massive change to the current legislation and as most people would agree, a welcome one. The changes are set to come into effect this coming June. The change will also broaden other forms of fair usage, including the use of parody and quotation rights.

To most people it is just common sense that they can make a backup copy of media they own, but unfortunately, in the UK it is currently illegal. The government had a public consultation and made a thorough inspection of local copyright legislation and then the UK Government decided to change current laws. The changes have actually been in the planning stage for a number of years now, but soon they will be implemented.

Starting this summer people will be free to make copies of DVD and CD media as long as it’s for personal use. To let the public know about this information, a campaign is to be undertaken that will inform the public about these upcoming changes. The Government has just released a consumer guide which will sum up citizens’ new rights.

The UK’s Intellectual Property Office writes, “Copyright law is being changed to allow you to make personal copies of media you have bought, for private purposes such as format shifting or backup…The changes will mean that you will be able to copy a book or film you have purchased for one device onto another without infringing copyright.”

Under the new and updated law, people will also be able to legally store copies of their music and movies in a cloud environment. However, the Government stresses that giving others access to your files will remain illegal. The guide explains, “You will be permitted to make personal copies to any device that you own, or a personal online storage medium, such as a private cloud. However, it will be illegal to give other people access to the copies you have made, including, for example, by allowing a friend to access your personal cloud storage.” People are free to sell any media they purchase, but all backup copies will have to be destroyed in line with that decision.

The UK Government stresses that the changes will make current copyright law more reasonable and it does not expect that copyright holders will undergo any significant problems. The changes could also generate extra revenue for the technology sector, increasing that revenue by £31 million per year.

What do you think? As always, if you would like to leave a sensible comment, then please do so in the comments section below.

[Image via jembelisme]

SOURCE: http://torrentfreak.com/uk-dvd-cd-ripping-will-legalized-summer-140328/