is it legal?

[konqueror7]

i currently live in germany and formerly in the philippines. both have their own internet laws pertaining on illegal downloads,

germany is very strict and have special agencies that just making a living from catchin someone downloading illegal stuffs; on the other hand, philippines is very loose, and doesn't have any such agencies. with other countries i don't know the specifics.

what would be treated is illegal download would be from torrents, p2p, and storage site like rapidshare. my question is, does downloading a file from your online storage/backup like dropbox, ubuntu one, or many others, considered as illegal or legal, files could be legal and illegal. does downloading from your 'personal backup' count as legal or illegal? thanks :D

[NightwishFan]

I am sure your own property would be legal unless you broke copyright laws to begin with. However, my advice would be to ask a lawyer or law expert in your country.

[Elaztic]

It is not the technology that defines if what you download is legal.
It is the content or the data you download. If you have your own (created by you) music/videos/files then it is legal to download and share it in any way you like.
If you ie. download a movie in a contry with no legislation within that area, put it in your Ubuntu One account and then download it in another contry then it is most likely illigal.

Use your common sense. If you did not have exclusive rights to begin with then you probably do not have it now (after you moved to another contry).

As suggested always consult a lawyer if in doubt.

[3rdalbum]

does downloading from your 'personal backup' count as legal or illegal? thanks :D

IANAL. Making a personal backup is most often legal through "fair use" laws. Your dropbox or Ubuntu One account contains your personal backup, and can't be accessed by anyone else, so it's definitely a "personal only" backup.

If hosted by another company, it's the same as keeping your belongings at a Self Storage company.

I Am Not A Lawyer, but I wouldn't have any legal hesitation about making a personal backup and storing it off-site.

[Paqman]

I Am Not A Lawyer, but I wouldn't have any legal hesitation about making a personal backup and storing it off-site.

Neither would I, but I wouldn't like to say that it's legal either.

For example: AFAIK in the UK it's legal to make a backup of software, but not of music. Everyone ripping their CDs to their mp3 player is technically in breach of copyright. Different jurisdictions will have other similarly stupid laws, i'm sure.

[koshatnik]

Depends on the country you are in. I think in the US that they have scrapped the backup for fair use things. In the UK, if you own a legal copy of something you are allowed to make 1 copy for back up purposes, regardless of where you put it. You'd need to check Germanys laws on fair use and backup, they might be different to the UK.

In a nutshell, its down to the territory you are in.

[konqueror7]

thanks for the inputs,,,it seems really the best option is too consult a lawyer or someone who knows these laws... the situation is fairly ethical in a way, you just want to download your backup, my worries are only that it maybe not the way it used to be when i was there.

i just couln't bring them here because my external was already full with software and episodes. i don't to be fined or inprisoned because of robbing my own stuff...:D

[samjh]

Copyright laws, like any law, differs from country to country. Some applicable laws stated by other posters, such as the "fair use" doctrine, does not apply in most other countries. As you've already said, consult a German lawyer if you want reliable legal information.

[thatguruguy]

thanks for the inputs,,,it seems really the best option is too consult a lawyer or someone who knows these laws

You've answered your own question.

[bobbob94]

Is germany really that on the case with illegal downloading anyway? i mean here in the UK, while its of course illegal to download copyrighted material over bittorrent or whatever, millions of people do so regularly and only a tiny tiny proportion ever get legal hassle. i'd imagine you're more likely to be hit by a car crossing the road than get prosecuted for downloading! i mean, if you're really worried of course you need to consult a lawyer, i just kind of doubt that there's much chance at all of bad consequences for you whatever the legal technicalities are...

[konqueror7]

You've answered your own question.

yeah, it does seem..i just wanted to hear other inputs from others, their own views and opinions...:D

[gn2]

~ here in the UK, while its of course illegal to download copyrighted material over bittorrent or whatever ~

Are you sure?
AFAIK the offence is distributing copyrighted material, if you don't upload you're not distributing.

[NightwishFan]

I made a backup of game software when the media was damaged. It was private use only and I transferred it to my newly installed machine. My ISP warned me that I should cease, so I emailed them a copy of the game software end user agreement that enabled me to do the action. It shut them up pretty quick.

[gn2]

How did your ISP find out?

[ukripper]

I made a backup of game software when the media was damaged. It was private use only and I transferred it to my newly installed machine. My ISP warned me that I should cease, so I emailed them a copy of the game software end user agreement that enabled me to do the action. It shut them up pretty quick.

I wonder how your ISP would know if you copying locally unless they are spying on you?

[xpod]

I think they probably mean they downloaded said "backup", considering the original media was damaged, but i could be wrong.
Even then though....just the one "backup" but yet they were on to you?? That`s some on the ball ISP. :?

[Post Monkeh]

Are you sure?
AFAIK the offence is distributing copyrighted material, if you don't upload you're not distributing.

i think they're different offences. afaik, so far only people who have been sharing files have been charged, but technically by ripping a cd onto your mp3 player you're breaking copyright because you're changing it. at least that used to be the case, but in reality no one is ever going to get done for having a pc full of mp3s of songs that they have bought (either as an mp3 or as a cd) unless they're sharing them.