Can I share a digital copy of a movie I bought with my family?

In Plain English

Based on the information provided in the Copyright Act 1968, making a "main copy" of a cinematograph film doesn't automatically infringe copyright if certain conditions are met. However, this protection is lost if you then sell, rent, offer for sale or hire, or distribute the main copy for trade or other purposes. But, if you loan the main copy to a family member for their private use, that's okay.

So, if you share a digital copy of a movie you bought with your family, it could be seen as copyright infringement if you are distributing it for trade or other purposes. However, if you are loaning it to a member of your family or household for their private and domestic use, it is likely not copyright infringement.

Detailed explanation

According to [Chunk 376] of the Copyright Act 1968, making a "main copy" of a cinematograph film is not an infringement of copyright under certain conditions. These conditions include that the owner has not made, and is not making, another copy that embodies the film in an electronic form substantially identical to the electronic form in which the film is embodied in the main copy. A temporary copy of the film incidentally made as a necessary part of the technical process of making the main copy is disregarded.

However, Chunk 376 states that the initial non-infringement status is revoked if the main copy is: * Sold * Let for hire * Offered or exposed for sale or hire by way of trade * Distributed for the purpose of trade or otherwise

The note following Chunk 376 clarifies that if the main copy is dealt with in any of these ways, copyright may be infringed not only by the making of the main copy but also by the dealing with the main copy.

Chunk 376 provides an exception: distributing the main copy to a member of the lender's family or household for the member's private and domestic use does not negate the initial non-infringement status.