Can you legally rip shows from the web for personal use?

Reader William writes: I love watching TV shows on Hulu and FanCast. I ran across some software that claims its possible to "rip" and save the shows to your computer. Do you know if there are any legal issues with software like this? Or is it covered like the "old school" VCRs of days gone by, where as long as you don't sell what you record, its cool? I would love to be able to copy some of these shows for long trips (especially for the kids!) but not if it's illegal. What have you heard?

For starters, I'm not a lawyer, but the prevailing wisdom is that, legally, you probably can't use software like this if you want to stay within the precise letter of the law, at least as it stands now. But read on before you make a decision.

For starters, the VCR case you're referring to (1984's Sony vs. Universal) gave consumers the right to record live TV and play it back later. However this case has not help up well in more recent arguments that it should apply to digital and online media. The Supreme Court has limited Universal's ruling considerably, notably in the MGM vs. Grokster decision in 2005, which officially struck down the legality of sharing copyrighted material via P2P. That doesn't mean you have no rights, but it does mean you can't do whatever you want with any media, legally speaking. (Heck, as of this writing you still can't legally buy software to rip a DVD to your hard drive!)

As for TV shows broadcast via Hulu and FanCast (and the like), there's no legal precedent at all covering this topic. So while the Universal case may apply and give you the right to download those videos, it would have to be tested in a court of law before we'd know for sure. Given the current sentiment of the courts, a decision like that could go either way. There is one thing strongly in the column against that being legal: The terms of service of these sites generally prohibit you doing anything with their content aside from watching it on your computer screen. Check out this section from the Hulu TOS: "The reproduction, duplication, distribution (including by way of email, facsimile or other electronic means), publication, modification, copying, translation, broadcast, distribution, performance, display, sale, or transmission of the Content is strictly prohibited..." That's a pretty strong statement, and language like that common on all the video services (including YouTube, even).

On the other hand, as you've noticed, software that lets you download web video for personal use is becoming increasingly commonplace. In fact, I've written about YouTube downloaders several times. If, as you note, you're using the content for personal use, and not distributing it online or otherwise, no one seems to care much about this issue. In fact, to my knowledge there's never been a suit against a consumer who made copies of any kind of digital media (including DVDs) for personal use. I doubt there ever will be: Can you imagine the negative publicity? Plus, the media companies wouldn't dream of suing a consumer for one simple reason: They'd probably lose the case, and then there would be a legal precedent against them that would essentially make personal copying illegal. Instead the studios will continue to go after file sharers, counterfeiters, and software makers who they disagree with.

The bottom line: Technically you probably can't use software like this, but ethically you're completely in the right and face a virtually nonexistant risk of being sued for using said software. If I were you I'd be far more worried about any spyware that might come along with these tools than the threat of the long arm of the law.