Give consumers the right to back up physical media they legally own

Background

Introduce a statutory private-copying exception allowing consumers to back up physical media they legally own for personal preservation. The right must cease if the original is sold, prohibit distribution, and permit narrow DRM bypass for archiving.

Additional details

Physical media can become unusable through disc degradation, defects and hardware obsolescence, causing owners to lose access despite reasonable care. UK law gives computer programs a backup exception, but no equivalent right exists for physical games, films, TV or music. The Government should introduce a private-copying exception allowing owners to back up physical media for personal use, provided the original is retained, copies aren't shared, and DRM may be bypassed for archival use only.

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