Playstation Discs

[Wheel-Nut]

Is it possible to make a BACKUP COPY of a Playstation game disk? Is it a DVD or a CD?

[Stu]

Is it possible to make a BACKUP COPY of a Playstation game disk? Is it a DVD or a CD?


original playstation games are cd's. ps2 are both cd and dvd.

there are ways to do it. look online hard enough and you will find tutorials. you will have to modify your system in order to play the games.

[racer2c]

FYI...making copies of games is illegal. Yes, even if you own the game and are only planning to use the back up copy if something happens to the original. It is still an illegal copy.

[Wheel-Nut]

After a brief trip to google it looks like its more involved than I want to venture into. I'll take my chances with the originals.

[nrc]

FYI...making copies of games is illegal. Yes, even if you own the game and are only planning to use the back up copy if something happens to the original. It is still an illegal copy.

That's the first I've heard of that. Based just on copyrights you can make as many copies as you like for for your own personal use. Emphasize personal here, that doesn't mean giving it to your friends or family or selling it on ebay.

There are two things that change the game considerably. The first is license agreements. When you open a game you're agreeing to a license agreement that can substantially change what you're premitted to do. My understanding was that courts had held that licenses couldn't deny a consumer's right to make at least one backup copy for legitimate protection against loss or damage to the original. Maybe somewhere along the way that has changed, but I really doubt it.

The second change is the Digital Millenium Copyright Act. This can of worms basically made it illegal to do anything that could be considered "cracking" something put in there for security purposes, even if it's just for your own use. So if (as Stu suggested) you have to do anyting to defeat copy protection in order to make your backup and be able to play it you could be violating the DMCA. For that they'll put you jail for a hundred years hard labor with no bail.

So it seems to me that if you can put a game CD in your PC and burn a backup copy without doing anything special to defeat copy protection, then it should be perfectly legal. If I were a parent I certainly wouldn't want to count on the yuggins not to turn their $50 playstation games into coasters inside a week.

[racer2c]

...

So it seems to me that if you can put a game CD in your PC and burn a backup copy without doing anything special to defeat copy protection, then it should be perfectly legal...

There's the kicker. Console games are compiled to their own format and encoded, like a DVD movie, to prevent copies being made. In order to make a copy, software is required that de-encrypts the security layer and then allows you to make an image file, iso etc for burning back to a standard DVD -R/+R. As Stu already pointed out, you would then need to modify (mod) the console so that the security layer verification is bypassed alowing the DVD to work.

[oddlycalm]

So it seems to me that if you can put a game CD in your PC and burn a backup copy without doing anything special to defeat copy protection, then it should be perfectly legal. If I were a parent I certainly wouldn't want to count on the yuggins not to turn their $50 playstation games into coasters inside a week. And therein lies the rub. Game discs are copy protected to the max and kids can unknowingly carry a dupe into the hands of someone that could cause legal trouble. Functionally, it's easy to make the copy by using DeCSS decryption driver like AnyDVD, then burn away with Nero.

It's up to the individual to interpret the Digital Millenium Act for themselves, at least until there is sufficient legal precedent. It's also up to the individual to choose what products come into their home. Rabidly anti-customer licenses from companies that want your money but think they have the right to dictate how you life your life deserve to be ignored.

oc

[Insomniac]

Here's some good information: http://www.eff.org/IP/DRM/fair_use_and_drm.html

Basically, if you have to reverse engineer or crack anything you are most likely violating the DMCA. As others have said, the DMCA overlaps with fair use and can be used against you.

I don't know if there ever was a case where an individual was sued or arrested for making personal backups even if they are violating the DMCA. I would seriously doubt that would happen, but it could.

There has been and will probably be a long battle between fair use and the DMCA. http://www.eff.org/IP/DRM/fair_use_and_drm.php