UK legalizes music, film and e-book back-ups

BBC.com reports that a law has come into effect that permits UK citizens to make copies of CDs, MP3s, DVDs, Blu-rays and e-books.

Consumers are allowed to keep the duplicates on local storage or in the cloud.

While it is legal to make back-ups for personal use, it remains an offence to share the data with friends or family.

Making such copies – including ripping CDs to iTunes – had previously qualified as copyright infringement, although cases were rarely prosecuted.

The changes were detailed in June, when the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) issued guidance, but had not come into effect until now.

“These changes are going to bring our IP [intellectual property] laws into the 21st century,” said the minister for Intellectual Property, Baroness Neville-Rolfe.

“They will mean that the UK IP regime will now be responsive to the modern business environment and more flexible for consumers.”

The change to the law also allows the parody of copyright works. Previously, there has been a risk of being sued for breach of copyright if clips of films, TV shows or songs were used without consent.

Read more at http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-29448058