Many people do not understand exactly what is considered legal and what is considered illegal where media is concerned. Some common questions include, "Is it legal to copy a song if you own the original already?" "Is it considered illegal if you record your favorite songs from the radio?" "Is it legal to record a movie from the television?" "Am I breaking the law by lending a friend of mine a CD or DVD?" Any of these questions can cause confusion within consumers are a daily basis. Thus the reason for this article, DVD duplication and the law, here we will look into the aspects involved in the subject.

Copyright protection is noticeable on a variety of media including, video, DVDs, printed books, and CDs. Basically the rule of thumb, is that all various types of entertainment are protected under copyright laws. What is copyright? It is protection for the owner or creator of the media, which gives them specific and legal rights to control and distribute it as they deem necessary. However, some owners will give permission for free and legal distribution by anyone. A good example of free distribution would include shareware and freeware software programs. These are software applications built and designed by any person and permission granted to distribute freely for the benefit of many people. Typically, this occurs when the owner is not seeking monetary gain for that product.

In the above case, any person would have rights in DVD duplication of that specific product. Cases where DVD duplication violates the law exist in instances where a person has, without prior consent of the owner, duplicated a movie onto a DVD. This would be consider illegal in accordance with copyright laws and regulations. Examples, of DVD duplication also include instances of download movies from the internet or using peer to peer programs to gain full length movies, these are very illegal and should never be resorted to under any circumstances.

You may have heard the news in recent times of "busts" occurring on those who choose to practice DVD Duplication. Any person caught willfully downloading illegal movies and practicing DVD Duplication could look forward to massive fines and or time in prison for these crimes. They are very serious crimes that are taken personally by the owners of the copyrighted DVDs and movies. The copyright laws are in places to protect owners from illegal activities, support the owners and actors by purchasing the DVD instead of practicing DVD duplication.