Is it wrong to pirate movies I've purchased digitally and load onto my Plex server?

Is it wrong to pirate {anything}
No.
- ::: you can download it off internet archive
  you need:
  windows - maybe, ive only tried on windows
  internet archive account
  adobe digital editions
  calibre with alf's de-drm plug-in
  borrow the book
  put this link into your browser and replace bookid with the identifier https://archive.org/services/loans/loan/?action=media_url&identifier=BOOKID&format=pdf&redirect=1
  you should get acsm file open it in adobe digital editions you now have drm-protected pdf in my documents/my digital editions/
  add this pdf to calibre (with the plug in installed)
  now you have drm-free pdf
  :::
  easier solution - just search it up with a book search engine
  
  You could also get it via annas archive: https://annas-archive.org/md5/b121f6196830860e8c5e4a04b129a987

Asking if pirating something is wrong in a pro pirating group.......
- Fair lol
- Its wrong they bought it in the first place..

There's a couple angles you can take on this. My favourite is from the dotCommunist Manifesto:
Society confronts the simple fact that when everyone can possess every intellectual work of beauty and utility—reaping all the human value of every increase of knowledge—at the same cost that any one person can possess them, it is no longer moral to exclude.
Essentially, this argues that the unethical position is the one that creates the false scarcity.
Another less extreme position would be that many countries allow for exemptions for format shifting: if you buy a CD with some music, you're legally permitted to rip it so long as you don't distribute copies. One could argue that someone in your position is operating within the spirit of these laws... provided that you haven't torrented the videos since that necessarily includes some partial distribution.
Finally, the least generous interpretation would point out that you didn't buy the videos in the first place, but rather a licence to let Vudu stream them to you. Given that you don't own anything, you're not morally entitled to own it in a different format. This is why many people have rejected the streaming model.
As someone in camp #1, I think you're a-ok ethically, but I thought you might want a broader perspective.
- I've never seen a more flawless answer
- Very nicely summarized!

Is it wrong to pirate movies
NO

It's not even wrong to pirate movies you don't own and put them on your plex server
- Personally I like Indies more than H🤑ll¥w©©d
  
  Try to make a proper comparison (Hollywood is massive and the studios and co. are shit) and phrase it with EA, Ubisoft or Blizard, I bet game pirates won't agree with you whatsoever!

Ethically spotless, yet still a crime.
- Not necessarily - depends on the way of obtaining the file. Downloading a copyrighted video is not illegal (it's fair use), sharing it with others is illegal. If they downloaded it directly without sharing, that's perfectly legal.

One of the rights we are continually trying to claw back from the IP Maximalist lobby (and their minions in office) is the right to enjoy the media you own in a format available to you.
However, the studios and labels like taking another bite of the apple by releasing new versions, or versions in new formats, sometimes twice as they release better versions that correct for bad transfers (e.g. the lightsaber problem with the early blu-ray release.)
Hollywood has established though repeated bad-faith behavior, it's not interested in getting your money legitimately or while retaining a positive customer experience, but extracting your money any way they can.
The DMCA forbids breaking DRM even for legal or non-copyright violating reasons (which is how we lost the right to repair or even jailbreak phones). And they could use this to prevent you from converting formats of your media to one you can actually use, but they'd have to make a stretchy case in court.
Sony also overcharges for scratched or failed media, so they've been caught treating their stuff as licenses or media when it legally suits them.
PS: Illegal ≠ Wrong. LGBT+ people are not grooming children, but religious ministries are.
- Yeah it's crazy how much the world has changed even in my short lifetime, especially with the mass adoption of digital media. It's going to be so difficult for people to retain their rights to what they purchase.

nothing is wrong with piracy

Is it wrong to pirate movies...
...lemme stop you right there

It's completely down to your opinion. Legally I would guess that you're not allowed to do it, but nowadays we live in a hellscape where we own nothing so I wouldn't base your moral compass off of the rules that corporations set. Personally if I've already bought it somewhere it is mine. They're lucky I even purchased one copy, they're not getting anything else from me.

Super illegal. Straight to super jail.
- Life on the outside ain't what it used to be...
- To shreds you say

Intellectual property doesn't exist, so no, not wrong at all.

Personally, I feel the same way you do about DRM. If you've paid to own it, then it should be owned outright. With this in mind, I would say pirating them wouldn't lose you any moral ground.

Arrr, you'd better watch this to get a more nuanced perspective!
- 100% what I was expecting the link to be
- fucking piped links always broken.

It's never wrong to pirate movies.

Since you're talking about "wrong", rather than "illegal", you seem to approach this from a moral angle instead of a legal one. And when it comes to morality, that's something you can only define for yourself.
Personally I don't see any problems there, nor do I see a problem with pirating unlicensed content. If I would never have paid to watch a certain movie, the rightsholder doesn't make a factual loss. They can cry about opportunity costs all day long, but if it's not a "cinema vs. piracy" but a "piracy vs. nothing at all" discussion, it's pretty much a moot point.
- And when it comes to morality, that's something you can only define for yourself.
  Well the point of his coming here to discuss the ethics of it was to go beyond his own starting moral intuitions, to consider arguments and perspectives that pertain to the ethics of the act in question. The view that morality is a personal matter is a non-starter as far as moral philosophy goes. The ball is in OP's court over who/what to consult to find relevant ethical considerations, and it's up to him to reason those out and whether to follow them, but that doesn't make the ethics itself something for him to define.
  
  Yeah you've hit the nail on the head. I was merely trying to gain some perspectives outside my own. Ethics is not something for me to define at all. That being said, I've decided that I have paid for the media and as such have a right to retain full control over that media as long as I don't sell it or distribute it widely.
- Yeah I know it's not legal in my country and state, but was just trying to get a feel for different opinions on the morality of my question. For me I just like making sure the creator of the media I really enjoy get's some kind of support, that way I'm voting a little with my dollar. So far I'm really thinking I've paid for the media once and once is more than enough.
  
  If you want to support the creator, spread the word. Paying for things will generally just fill the purses of some rich ass media company execs who sit around all day masturbating on their third yacht.
  By spreading the word, the creator is suddenly known for "having created this media that everyone knows", landing them better deals with media corporations.
  This concept applies to pretty much all media in all forms.
  
  You’ve paid for the right to watch the movie. The movie industry will argue that you’ve just paid for the right to access that physical copy and I’m sure from a legal point of view they’re right as they’ve lobbied to increase control out of greed and the hope of being able to get more money out of you for the same effort.
  Morally you paid to access the content, you paid to compensate the creators for their work. Now you’re entitled to view what you’ve paid for.

Legally, yes it is wrong.
Morally? That depends on the person. I think asking a piracy focused community means you're going to get a heavily skewed set of answers that all veer towards various forms of "Not wrong" or "It's good actually. Don't even support the platforms that make the content legally available because DRM sucks" etc.
Generally speaking though, most older visual media releases no longer make money for anyone who worked on them directly. Use that information however you see fit. I know it changes how I think about piracy in general.
- Yeah I knew this would be a skewed sample of opinions, but I was also warry of posting this anywhere else since piracy is a touchy subject on some other instances. Also yeah I'm thinking that since I've purchased the media I should have full rights to do with said media whatever I please (other than selling it).

No, because artificial scarcity is immoral.

Is it wrong to pirate movies [...] and load onto my Plex server?
no
- May I ask for your reasoning?
  
  Because you've purchased the movies ya dingus
  
  The writers and actors are on strike right now, and if you pay for media before their strike is over, it makes it easier for Hollywood to profit off existing media, ignore the writers and actors, and starve the writers and actors out.
  If you want to support writers and actors while they are on strike, so that Hollywood folds first, consider donating to
  WGAE members' strike fund
  WGA Solidarity Assistance Fund (supports both East and West)
  Food and practical support for their picket lines

When you purchase a physical copy of a movie in general; you obtain and retain the right to "copy your copy" and "use it strictly for personal use" ad infinitum.
So yes, it's completely 💯% ethical piracy to pirate titles you already paid for but found the format to be lacking. You don't owe filmmakers a second purchase for a new or better format. Don't bother getting into the weeds over per-screen or per-head copies either; you don't owe them that either. Just don't screen a film for more than 3-5 people outside of your immediate household family who are not related to you by blood or name and you'll probably never run into Copyright Lawsuits... because it'll never be worth their time to bother.
Pirate away happily matey. Don't let people fool you into thinking you are more or less ethical in your piracy than what you yourself believes is ethical or unethical. You decide how you will and want to pirate because a pirate is free.
- Lending the "copy of Your Copy" is arguably not always personal use. The law explicitly only authorizes copies of your copy if those copies are "at rest" for "archival" purposes. I only ignore the distinction that this rule is only for computer software because I view digital video/audio data files as computer software itself. It's just a standardized format that tells an application what to draw and present on the screen and/or what sounds to make.
  If you're not going to abuse the mechanic and only lend out fewer copies of your copies than you can count on one hand...then sure, knock yourself out. I don't think the law is ever going to be robustly enforced enough to seek you out specifically for doing this. Personally though; I don't think doing this passes muster under the expected fair and personal use unless you're loaning said copy to someone you live with.

I don't want to fund the extremely unethical industry behind all of this and think piracy is the only way to oppose the rediculess hellscape that is the current copyright system so if anything it's wrong to buy the movies in the first place.

This is a corporate run late stage capitalism hell hole. Do whatever you want that doesn’t hurt people, unless they’re bad people.

- Would you care to elaborate? I don't really see how it would be wrong?

Why are you asking is piracy "wrong" on a piracy forum?
- Just to have a discussion and get to see some of the different opinions out there.

It is never wrong to be a pirate.
- Yeah it's just for me personally I like to make sure I support the creators of the media I consume. Just what works for me.
  
  Since you bought it, in theory you've supported the creators. Pirating it is 1000% fine in that case (or in any case)
  In reality all the people who actually worked hard to make the film has been paid long before you bought it and the only creators getting the money are the owners of the companies. Unless you are buying from the creators source.

You're asking this in a community that's specifically about doing piracy. Pretty hard to take your question seriously in this context.
- Well I just didn't see any harm in feeling out a lot of different pirates opinions to see some different perspectives I maybe didn't think of.

I don't see the problem, I see it as a personal backup of a media you legally licensed. Unless you resell the original without getting rid of the copy, or give a copy to someone who doesn't own a license, it's fair game.
- Yeah that's where I was kinda leaning since it's just for my household's use. Especially since I've already purchased it once.

You have to decide if you have a duty to follow licensing agreements or not. Most folks here do not believe they do.
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ethics-deontological/#DeoThe

Legally, it is illegal. Ethically, I think you're fine. If you pay for something you should be allowed to use the thing.
I feel like that basic interpretation of the law probably predates the code of Hammurabi.
- That applies to things you legally own. Digitally purchased items are leased to you; you do not own them. So that cutout to copyright law does not apply to digital goods.

@adonkeystomple @piracy It's never wrong to pirate films

I'm gonna just cut thru the larger spiel I would normally give.
No, it is not wrong. You paid for it in the sense of reasonable expectations of ownership. That means being able to watch it in as convenient a method as if you'd bought the VHS back in the day. While this may not line up with legal definitions of licenses, fuck them. Replace "file" or "stream" with "tape" and it becomes crystal clear.

Do you own the movie? Or does the studio own you?
Therein lies the answer.

Only if you brag of it in Lemmy.world, that way the police will catch you /s

yeah go for it! Do what you want. You already gave them money.

You've paid your fee, I see nothing morally questionable in what you are doing.
I'm with you on this one, you've bought it, you should be allowed to do as you please with it.

In the US: you are legally allowed to have a backup copy of any media you have (digital -> physical, physical -> digital, or any other match up). Since you own the physical copy of these movies, this means you're allowed to have the digital one as a backup.
Your physical disks are encrypted, and breaking said encryption to make a copy is technically illegal. Downloading the files from somewhere is not illegal, but sharing them is.
With all that said, if you own the disk, and either download or torrent without seeding, you're well within your rights legally.
Your other option is to use Handbrake or another disk ripping software, along with dvdcss or aacs and rip your disks yourself.
- In the US: you are legally allowed to have a backup copy if any media you have (digital - physical, physical - digital, or any other match up). Since you own the physical copy of these movies, this means you’re allowed to have the digital one as a backup.
  Minor caveat: US law allows for a backup that you made from your own original medium. CD/DVD rips are ok, but downloading from torrents is still legally no bueno.

According to their ToS:
You are granted a non-exclusive, non-transferable, limited right and license to access and use the Content solely for your private non-commercial viewing.
You must not transfer, copy or display Content except as permitted in this Vudu Policy.
They basically don't allow you to download any movie to watch them outside their app. You are not actually "purchasing" the movies, you simply "purchasing" access to watch those movies on Vudu.
As for morality of downloading movies you already "purchased", consider this quote I came across a little while ago: "Is piracy really stealing if paying isn't owning?"

The real crime is paying for content to begin with /s

NO