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posted by n1 on Saturday March 29 2014, @12:45AM   Printer-friendly
from the progress-at-a-snails-pace dept.

Fluffeh writes:

Currently in the UK, it is illegal to make a backup of your own media, either as a perfect copy or a format shift. Although plans to amend these laws have been kicking around for years, the government has finally set out a timeline and it is only a few months away. The UK Government stresses that the changes will make current copyright law more reasonable, and doesn't expect that copyright holders will suffer any significant harm. However, the changes could generate extra revenue for the technology sector, increasing revenue by 31 million pounds (US $51 million) per year. People will also be free to sell any media they purchase, however all backup copies will have to be destroyed.

From the consumer guide:

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.

Torrent Freak also notes:

Besides the new private copying rights, the upcoming amendments will also broaden people's fair use rights. For example, people no longer have to ask permission to quote from or parody the work of others, such as a news report or a book, as long as it's "fair dealing" and the source is recognized.

Circumvention of DRM will still be against the law, but the Secretary of State can be petitioned on a case by case basis if the DRM is "too restrictive".

 
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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Common Joe on Saturday March 29 2014, @05:35AM

    by Common Joe (33) <{common.joe.0101} {at} {gmail.com}> on Saturday March 29 2014, @05:35AM (#22836) Journal

    Speaking of April Fool's... I never did like how summaries were posted on April Fool's day that were not serious on Slashdot. For me, it was too hard to tell what was April Fool's and what wasn't. I just learned to ignore the whole day's worth of articles. If it's obviously a joke, that's fine, but news today always has a joke-like quality -- whether that comes from stupidity in the government of Snowden-like proportions or from science where the absurd becomes fact.

    I want to avoid the whole April Fool's thing on Soylent News. Do others agree or is it just me?

    Starting Score:    1  point
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    Total Score:   5