Discussion Forums - Questions about SwapaDVD

Does any one know it I bring my disc to Walmart to make them on my UV acct. The disc is stamped so no one else can go to walmart and do the same. would it still me ok to trade the discs on Swap A Dvd?

being that its a new technology, Im not sure swap has made a ruling on that, I highly suggest you ask them by submitting the question via their feedback link (help center --> contact us)

Answer from SwapaDVD:

We are sorry, but your DVD will not be postable once you make a copy, digital or otherwise. There is a law for copyrighted material stating that if you have a copy of the material, the only way to sell, trade, swap, etc. that original copy is if you destroy the copy you made. This is obviously impossible for us to monitor. So our policy is that you are not allowed to post DVDs if you use this new service from Walmart. Thank you for checking with us before posting.
 

thanks laura, i expected that to be the answer.

I think you may be mis-understanding the point of the question.  If someone takes a disc to Wal-Mart for UV entry, then that's just a digital copy and the original disc should still be tradeable but the new user just would not be able to use the digital UV option - This would be on par if the original user had a separate digital copy of the disc - no difference - since the movie, which is what is being traded, is still just as good - you just can't use the digital copy or UV option - which does not factor into ANY DVD Swapable credit anyway.

Patric, I think you're not understanding the site's response to the question. When you buy a DVD+digital copy, you're actually paying for having two copies of the movie. But when you buy a DVD without digital copy, you're only paying for one copy. In the latter case, if you make another copy of the movie, you may not sell, lend, or give away the original while still hanging on to the copy. That's the law regarding copyright. SaDVD has no way of monitoring what has been done with copies; so, since discs that are identified as having gone through the Wal-mart service clearly indicate that a copy HAS been made, SaDVD has no option other than to prohibit trading them on this site. Otherwise, they'd be seen as encouraging illegal trading of copyrighted material.

Also,  4 credits are granted to someone who has a two-disc Blu-ray where one of the discs is the regular Blu-ray movie disc and the other disc is a DVD/Digital copy of the movie.  So if a user installs the DVD/Digital copy to his computer collection (or online at VUDU) that same disc can also be played on a regular DVD player (and thus included in the Blu-ray/DVD Combo pack).  So I don't see any difference between the DVD/Digital copy and the Wal-mart Ultra-violet copy of the disc where even after setting it up on Wal-mart UV - can still be played on any regular DVD player.

Patric, that is a whole different story. The DVD in a bluray combo is worth 2 points because they cant differentiate in the system between a bluray and a dvd disc in the same entry, so a dvd and bluray together is 4 credits (2 credits each) and has absolutely nothing to do with the DC. This is the same situation that kevin explained with buying a dvd vs buying a dvd and digital copy together.

It appears to me there are at least two people that do not understand the site's position.  I wonder if there are people trading already who have made digital copies of their discs?  How would anyone know? 

Gloria, in the OP's post:

"The disc is stamped so no one else can go to walmart and do the same"

otherwise you wouldnt know. Im not sure about the process sarah was talking about being able to do it at home.

You can do the VUDU disc to digital from home now

http://www.vudu.com/in_home_disc_to_digital.html?KWID=In_Home_Disc_Digital_Beta_013113

No stamp and nothing that marks DVD as such.

Again there is NO agreement with VUDU when you do this that the disc has to remain in your possession.  That is apparently people making stuff up.

This is NOT the same as burning a copy to a hard drive.

if part of the transaction fee for you paying vudu to hold a digital copy of your disc is paid to the company who sells the dvds, then I would agree that you can then get rid of the disc with no risk. If it is not, then it IS essentially the same as copying a disc to your harddrive and then getting rid of the disc (where by law, you have to delete the copy from your harddrive). Its a fine line between whether or not you are paying the company with the rights to the material, or not. I dont know how the cost of VUDU is distributed, but if they are not paying royalties to those that own the materials, then is would be illegal to keep your digital copy while getting rid of the disc.

I just looked up the TOS of VUDU. It clearly states that to maintain access to a title you must retain ownership of the original disc. That is the law. It states it VERY clearly in the TOS, so Im not sure where you saw that you didnt need to do that.

ETA: To answer gloria's question, there is no real way to tell if they did a home conversion, it is on the person's own honesty to go and delete the digital copy once they send it out (just like it is for them to go and delete any hard copies they made). That is not the receiver's responsibility. If VUDU ever asks for proof of ownership and they no longer have the disc, however, they could get in serious trouble. So basically its not something you should worry about as a receiver, but dont send out anything that is stamped with the VUDU stamp as it gives the appearance of illegality, which is what the PTB here are trying to avoid.

Yep, very clearly a no-no in the Vudu TOS:

"Disc to Digital:
You may have the opportunity to covert your physical Blu-ray™ and DVD discs into electronic copies that may be stored and viewed through the VUDU Service via the Disc to Digital program. The Disc to Digital program is only available for physical Blu-ray™ and DVD titles that have been legitimately purchased and are presently owned by you. VUDU reserves the right to refuse conversion of a title, or to limit or cancel your access to a previously converted title, if VUDU reasonably believes the title does not meet, or no longer meets, the purchase and ownership criteria set forth in this paragraph."

Thats funny, because I contacted them too and was told the exact opposite of you.

From the Terms of Service, available on the page http://www.vudu.com/vudu_documentation.html:

Disc to Digital:
You may have the opportunity to covert your physical Blu-ray™ and DVD discs into electronic copies that may be stored and viewed through the VUDU Service via the Disc to Digital program. The Disc to Digital program is only available for physical Blu-ray™ and DVD titles that have been legitimately purchased and are presently owned by you. VUDU reserves the right to refuse conversion of a title, or to limit or cancel your access to a previously converted title, if VUDU reasonably believes the title does not meet, or no longer meets, the purchase and ownership criteria set forth in this paragraph.

Notice it says "may be stored and viewed" and "presently owned by you".  If you give the disc away, then the title would no longer meet the ownership criteria.

I have a feeling the person Sara talked to either didn't understand what the question was, or was mistaken on the Terms of Service.

Addendum:  I would be very surprised if I was wrong on my interpretation of the TOS.  I'm sure the TOS was written up very carefully and involves agreements between VUDU and the film distributors.  I really can't believe it would be okay with the studios for someone to buy a DVD, convert it through the VUDU Disc to Digital program, pass the DVD on to somebody else, let that person also convert it and pass it on to yet another someone, etc. etc.

agreed kevin, like i said ealier here, it is ILLEGAL to make a copy (which is exactly what vudu is doing) without keeping the disc, UNLESS you are paying the studio for that copy. So unless VUDU is paying part of its fee to the studio that makes the movie, which I highly doubt, it doesnt really matter what VUDU TOS says, it would be illegal to get rid of the disc. Ultraviolet and digital copies are different beings all together as you are paying for a different copy. Sort of like when you buy a bluray and dvd, you are paying for two forms of the movie and are in your right to keep one and sell the other. VUDU is not a digital copy that you paid the studio for.