Flench,
I think the point to be made out of the discussion is that many companies are aggressively protecting not only their own copyrights, but also copyrights of other people. Certainly, buying a CD does not automatically convey the right to make duplicates or even view the contents in any way other than how it is spelled out in the license agreement. Which was the point I was discussing where wal-mart made me prove that the CD full of images I had came with a license to make prints of the images on that CD.
If photobucket's restriction is in error, then you need to provide them with proof that you actually have the right to copy, modify, distribute, or whatever you're doing to the contents of that CD. If you can't provide proof, then photobucket is bound by law to not provide you with any services that may violate someone's copyright.
Yea it sucks for people making legit copies but enough people make illegal copies (and enough content providers restrict their "sold" content to the point where it is nearly impossible to use or view that content legally) that powerful companies and associations basically bribed a ton of congressmen/women into passing very restrictive laws on digital copyright enforcement. While you can argue that these laws protect both large and small content producers, it also had the effect of making it perfectly legal for a media production company to "sell" you a CD full of stuff that you can't really use because they didn't really sell you the CD, they sold you a license to use the CD in a manner specified by a lengthy legal document that nobody understands. In extreme cases, simply putting that CD into your computer could constitute a violation that could result in many thousands of dollars in fines or even a jail term.
The problem is that the rules are so draconian that even innocent people are affected, sometimes badly. And other companies that deal with content have to be super careful about what they allow to be moved/copied/distributed/viewed with their services or they could get sued too, even if there was no intentional or actual theft involved.
So basically you have only a few options, assuming you have the rights you say you do (to get prints or a video made from a CD). You could prove to photobucket that you have the rights you claim, and they MIGHT help you out. Or you could find another print service.
Or, if you want to join the ever growing ranks of the digital criminal elite, you could copy the images to your computer, use any (free) photo editing software to delete all image meta-data which is often where details like the photographer's name and copyright restrictions are stored, save the scrubbed files, and then re-attempt to get the freshly scrubbed images printed. This is of course highly illegal and can actually earn you jail time (yea really), but sometimes that's the only way around incorrectly applied copyright restrictions. But remember, even if you actually own copyright on an image, if you are not the original creator of that image then you may be forbidden by federal law to modify the image in any way, including removing file meta-data. If you don't like that, write your congressman and complain, realizing that if your complaint is not accompanied by several million dollars in annual campaign contributions, the congressman will not help you one bit since that's what it took to get the original law passed.
