Excuse Me While I Share My Copy of 1984
There’s been an interesting debate over whether, in a recent court case, RIAA is now finally (they’ve been borderline on this issue for quite some time now) saying that merely converting music from a CD you legally own to MP3s on your hard disk is illegal.
The important thing (as I’ve briefly commented over at RWW) to note here is, no matter how you stand on the issue, while we’re debating the finer points of some legal paper, the RIAA is winning by confusing us all. They’re constantly pushing the limits of what is legal in the world of music sharing and blurring them at the same time, systematically creating a world in which absolutely no kind of sharing is ever legal.
The problem is that the internet is not only about sharing. It IS sharing. I should be able to rip my music from a CD, convert it to any format I like, put it in any folder I want, share it with whomever I like, using software of my choosing. They’re the ones who need to figure out how to sell me their stuff despite all the above, without messing with the way I use my computer and the internet.
Now, if we even have to debate whether copying CDs I legally own to my hard drive is legal or illegal, then they’ve won. It’s standard Orwellian tactics: take some utterly impossible notion and convince the people it’s the truth. Your “common sense” line of defense is broken, and they can then make some other stupid idea illegal much more easily - for example the one that says you can’t share music with other people. No one in their right mind would ever condemn you for copying a tape cassette or creating a mix tape and giving it out back in the day; now, they’re suing you for doing the same thing.
Oh, and if you’re thinking about writing a comment about how musicians will vanish from the face of the planet if we all keep on sharing files, then they’ve got to you, too.
December 11th, 2007 at 2:59 pm
[…] tinha dito que era ilegal fazer cópias pessoais de CDs para MP3. Mas como Stan Schroeder refere no Frantic Industries, não importa o que é que a RIAA quis ou não dizer mas sim que com estes truques e subterfúgios […]
December 12th, 2007 at 6:11 am
well if we dont own it, when we buy it and they dont own it when they sell it. looks like all of us are crooks. lets call it even and do what we want.
December 12th, 2007 at 7:15 am
The more forbidden fruit they create, the more i’ll eat. Its simple human instinct. we want what we cant (or shouldnt) have.
December 12th, 2007 at 10:54 am
You might have not noticed, but in these days the US companies are desperately trying to reinforce IP (Intellectual Propriety). The mass production era after WWII kind of ended. In the global environment US companies are loosing terrain. The only thing thay can turn to is IP. And they try to make the most of it. It is not that more people have become “pirates”, it is the fact that in a world where ideas circulate fast, if you cannot generate them fast enough, you must eliminate the possibilities that the competition would use them. IP is becoming the main source of income for a lot of companies.
December 12th, 2007 at 3:35 pm
When I pay somebody for something I then own that something. Dispute me if you wish and I will win.
December 13th, 2007 at 2:57 am
Rick - not true if they stole it in the first place. You cannot (in the UK) get good title to stolen goods
December 13th, 2007 at 3:47 am
Rick, I am not a lawyer, but I think if you read the fine print on that music you bought, you might find you actually paid for a license to listen, in private, for non-commercial reasons, to music on a CD (or whatever medium it is stored in, tape, LP, hard drive, etc.) Oh, and you bought the CD, liner notes and case/sleeve this music comes in. This has pretty much been the case since 78s or even pianolas, probably even earlier. It’s not new.
You didn’t buy the right to play the music in public or distribute, for any reason or by any means, that music. Those rights are obtained by paying more for one or more separate licences, either for a mobile DJ, a radio station, a 2nd hand shop, a pawnbroker, a record store, a shopping centre, whatever.
If you sell or otherwise no longer have the CD, record, tape you owned, you no longer have the rights (it seems) to listen to a copy of music made from that particular CD. I hope that if you lost the CD, maybe you still have the right (as you didn’t voluntarily dispose of them, after all) to listen to music ripped from the CD you bought. This might vary around the world?
But if you sell the CD, you no longer have a right to have a copy of the music ripped from it. You sold your licence which allowed you to do so.
Listening to mp3s ripped from a CD you’ve sold is a copyright violation. It’s not theft, it’s not piracy (unless you’re selling the mp3s or copied CDs). But under the laws of most Western nations at least, it’s copyright violation. A civil offence, usually, so the copyright owner can prosecute you for it. The state won’t, it’s purely a business matter.
What’s so hard to understand? Buy the CD, rip it, keep the CD carefully shelved, listen to mp3s. Easy, legal (usually) and very common. But if you sell the CD, you’re supposed to delete the mp3s, too. Usually, your legal system may vary from mine.
So, yes, you own what you paid for. The licence, and the physical medium containing the music.
Enjoy it responsibly.
December 13th, 2007 at 9:17 am
@Dethlok: yes, and that’s another thing what’s wrong with the industry today (;
December 15th, 2007 at 3:53 am
DethLok - I’m not a lawyer either, but I think you’ve given a good description of the current legal situation. But I think the argument is - yes, that’s the law, but let’s change it. I haven’t researched it, but I assume the laws were enacted at the request of intellectual property owners who wanted to do what they thought was necessary to protect their interest (but maybe they overreached). Let’s take the prohibition on performance without license - in other words, every time I listen to Madonna sing someone has to pay. Balderdash. And, I believe the recipient of that pay is not just Madonna but a whole league of other businesspeople who purchased these “rights” from her. In that scenario, the attorneys drafting the law said, “why would anyone pay to hear Madonna perform if someone could just play a tape, CD, etc. for free”. The answer is obvious, that there is more (or less, depending on the artist) to a live performance than just the music. Broadcasts don’t reduce performance revenue.
The recording industry (publishing too) do have a problem, but their fight is to retain a system that they created, that is not pure, and that needs to be reanalyzed and ultimately replaced.
December 19th, 2007 at 4:21 pm
this may be a general rule for the US but Australia (and I think many other countries) has laws saying you are allowed to convert your CD to mp3 - we have a law that allows people to format shift media - meaning you can put your CD on a mp3 player etc.
December 22nd, 2007 at 8:27 pm
Goldcoaster, do you have any reference for those Australian laws?
January 3rd, 2008 at 6:41 am
I believe that I have the right to copy CD’s I’ve bought to my hard drive and use that content in any way I want including any type of parody or derivative work. I don’t agree that I should be able to put it anywhere I want (such as a shared folder) or give it away or share it with anyone. I really think that is infringement. However, having said that, I agree that the responsiblity lies with the music business to come up with a model for selling me content. I still buy CDs because I like having them but I won’t ever spend over $9.99 for a CD. I think it’s a rip off. And what about libraries loaning out music and audio CD’s? Oh, and they loan books! Anyone could just copy that book and start handing out copies to their friends. Opportunities for infringement abound all around us.
January 4th, 2008 at 10:55 pm
I do not see any such regulations published on my old vinyl LPs. If it isn’t stated, is it legal to assume it? If not, then I can rip all my vinyl to MP3 or whatever.
March 5th, 2009 at 5:33 am
MP3 Downloads Blog…
I’ve been an RSS subscriber to your blog for a while and this is my first time not lurking. It’s great to read quality blogs by other music fans. BTW, I originally found your blog while doing a search for free legal mp3s in google. Congrats on you…
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June 11th, 2009 at 9:24 pm
Excuse Me While I Share My Copy of 1984? Seriously? I was searching Google for my drive thru mp3 download and found this… will have to think about it.