body: In Canada, format shifting is explicitly allowed under the new [copyright modernization act](http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/annualstatutes/2012_20/FullText.html). I have a program and hardware that allow me to convert VHS tapes to digital copies. 
  
  
  From what I understand about owning movies, is that you buy a new movie, what you are actually purchasing is a license to view that movie on your own home, you never own the movie itself, because of the copyright.
  
  
  I could take the time to convert all my VHS, but there's no guarantee it would be the same quality as when I first purchased it.
  
  
  If you can only own a license to watch a movie in your home, and format shifting is not an infringement of copyright, then is it legal for someone to download digital copies of movies that they have already purchased a license to view in their homes in another format? 
  
  
  
title: Is downloading videos you already own illegal?