iPod Legality Question

Nah dude you can do that...I guess the theory is somebody payed for the CD so it is all good.

Zappa88 wrote: Nah dude you can do that...I guess the theory is somebody payed for the CD so it is all good.

So that makes filesharing legal then? Somebody paid for it


Edited by The Miracle - December 31 2006 at 21:43

Ghandi 2 wrote: That's exactly why I am doubting it. If it's ok, then it's possibly the greatest loophole ever, but I still have copyrighted material TO KEEP without the artist getting anything. By this logic, I could buy a CD, copy it, and then resell it. And that's obviously wrong. Right?

It is legal to burn discs for private use like a CD for the car and for home. I burn all my CDs because I do not like carrying 100s of dollars of CDs around. So I burned all my CDs and carry those around because they are easier to replace than CDs. BUt selling burnt copies is definetly illegal.

if you would be keeping the material for ever and not discard it at some point it will became a PROPERTY of yours and that's illegal because you didn't buy it (or took it with the copyright owner's agreement). this is only a guess as i don't have a proper knowledge of legal stuff. i also guess it would be legal for your friend to temporary share his music with you by giving you a copied cd but it would become illegal if you didn't return it. however i think the way i see things is not the proper one as it puts things on moving sands - HOW LONG does it take for having non-bought music to become an illegal property?

It would be illegal in Britain, and I'm sure it would be the same in The States.

If it is illegal, it shouldn't matter. Besides VDGG, all bands are super rich and don't need the money.

But personally I think it's fine as long as you actually help the CD in your hands before uploading it into iTunes.

Fitzcarraldo wrote: It's no different to photocopying a book, which is also illegal.

So why are there copy machines in libraries?

Shakespeare wrote: If it is illegal, it shouldn't matter. Besides VDGG, all bands are super rich and don't need the money.

Tell that to the many thousands of groups and solo artists who are struggling to make a living from their music. Tell that to the smaller, independent record companies which are commercial concerns that are not raking in money and are perfectly entitled to expect people to pay for listening to albums that the company produces, distributes and markets.

For example, consider PENDRAGON's biggest seller, "The Masquerade Overture". If I remember correctly, it has sold around 65,000 copies worldwide. That is absolute peanuts. An artist is not going to get rich selling those sorts of numbers of CDs. So why should people be able to copy it for free? Why is that ethical? It isn't.

Wikipedia article on copyright

Universal Copyright Convention

Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works

Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organisations

World Intellectual Copyright Treaty

Member states of the World Intellectual Property Organisation

In the majority of countries (you can find links on the above Web pages to lists of the signatories) the above four treaties mean that the copying of a music album in which the artist and/or producer has asserted his/her rights over the work -- usually within a time frame of a fixed number of years (e.g. 50 years in the UK's case) -- is illegal, and for perfectly valid commerical and ethical reasons.

I understand that in some countries there are a few exceptions, for example a copy by a music critic for the purpose of publication of a review, or a copy by an academic for the purposes of research but, by and large (and certainly in the USA), the answer to what Ghandi 2 is asking is, unequivocally: it's illegal. And, putting aside the legalities, in the vast majority of cases it's unethical if the artist and/or publisher has asserted his ownership of the work.

Of course, in practice in every country that is a signatory to one or more of the main four copyright treaties you can find street sellers or even shops selling pirate CDs and DVDs. But that does not mean to say it's legal in that country, just that the law is not being enforced or that piracy is not under control.

By the way, some of you might be interested to read a recent BBC article about the failed attempt by Sir Cliff Richard to get the UK Government to extend the protection of copyright from the present 50 years to 95 years:

Musical copyright set to stay at 50 years