Downloading music- Law?
Discussion
Is downloading music from torrent sites etc illegal if you own the tape or cd Of the music you are getting? Surely you have already paid for it? I only ask as with the speed of downloads now it is quicker to download an album than it is to rip it from cd. Also I no longer have a tape player.
I believe so. When you buy a CD, for example, you buy one license for that music. If you want it on your iPod too then strictly speaking you have to buy a legit download from iTunes or wherever - you can't just rip it from the CD. However, as a semi-professional musician, if someone bought a CD of my work and then ripped it to their computer as an MP3 to put on their music player it wouldn't bother me. As long as they've paid for one instance of it they can make as many copies as they want for their own personal use. Copyright law, however, can be rather silly and impractical - even in the eyes of the people it is supposed to protect.
I have a friend who works in the music industry, and he gives me the full album releases each week, a bit naughty really, seeing as I currently have about 500gig of music on hard drive.
As i used to DJ a long time ago, and still have about 16000 vinyl singles, 5000 vinyl albums, 1000 vinyl 12 inches & lost count CD's, I thought I best get all of these & mp3's insured against loss etc on house contents.
House insurance company said that they would insure any mp3's that I have legitimate original for, as this constituted purchase, but would not insure against any loss of mp3 that didn't, unless I had proof of purchase/download from Itunes for etc.
Therefore, no proof of ownership means naughty naughty ..........
As i used to DJ a long time ago, and still have about 16000 vinyl singles, 5000 vinyl albums, 1000 vinyl 12 inches & lost count CD's, I thought I best get all of these & mp3's insured against loss etc on house contents.
House insurance company said that they would insure any mp3's that I have legitimate original for, as this constituted purchase, but would not insure against any loss of mp3 that didn't, unless I had proof of purchase/download from Itunes for etc.
Therefore, no proof of ownership means naughty naughty ..........
MitchT said:
I believe so. When you buy a CD, for example, you buy one license for that music. If you want it on your iPod too then strictly speaking you have to buy a legit download from iTunes or wherever - you can't just rip it from the CD.
My daughter has asked for an ipod for christmas. Excuse me ignorance in such matters but are you saying we won't be able to fill it with tracks from CDs that we currently own and will have to purchase the songs again from itunes?! She already has a cheapo MP3 player that we just transfers music files from the pc onto, so it's not the same with an ipod?
Nocebo said:
MitchT said:
I believe so. When you buy a CD, for example, you buy one license for that music. If you want it on your iPod too then strictly speaking you have to buy a legit download from iTunes or wherever - you can't just rip it from the CD.
My daughter has asked for an ipod for christmas. Excuse me ignorance in such matters but are you saying we won't be able to fill it with tracks from CDs that we currently own and will have to purchase the songs again from itunes?! She already has a cheapo MP3 player that we just transfers music files from the pc onto, so it's not the same with an ipod?
I thought they only really cared about it if you were downloading masses of music every month,or you could be making money out of it. Or at least that is the only way you would rouse the ISPs suspicions. I think I heard on the grapevine that you get a letter from your ISP first telling you to stop, so at least there is a warning!
BTW - these words are spoken as a musician. When I found a copy of my single which isn't even released yet up on Youtube it annoyed me. Just goes to show there really are people that can track anything down online. It's not nice being on the other side of illegal downloading
BTW - these words are spoken as a musician. When I found a copy of my single which isn't even released yet up on Youtube it annoyed me. Just goes to show there really are people that can track anything down online. It's not nice being on the other side of illegal downloading
RupertTheFridge said:
Nocebo said:
MitchT said:
I believe so. When you buy a CD, for example, you buy one license for that music. If you want it on your iPod too then strictly speaking you have to buy a legit download from iTunes or wherever - you can't just rip it from the CD.
My daughter has asked for an ipod for christmas. Excuse me ignorance in such matters but are you saying we won't be able to fill it with tracks from CDs that we currently own and will have to purchase the songs again from itunes?! She already has a cheapo MP3 player that we just transfers music files from the pc onto, so it's not the same with an ipod?
The ISP's and music industry aren't actually that bothered about you downloading music. What they have a problem with, and what they prosecute people for is the act of Sharing or Uploading.
best thing to do is as soon as you've downloaded something, move it to a different folder on your PC that isn't shared, job done, very unlikely to be prosecuted.
thats my understanding anyway, but obviously downloading is bad and you'd never catch me doing it
best thing to do is as soon as you've downloaded something, move it to a different folder on your PC that isn't shared, job done, very unlikely to be prosecuted.
thats my understanding anyway, but obviously downloading is bad and you'd never catch me doing it
Sorry guys, but you're all wrong. It is currently illegal to 'format shift' in the UK, and that includes ripping your CDs to MP3 as well as downloading CDs you already own. US law has an explicit 'fair use' exemption which allows this, but no such thing exists in UK law.
Obviously it's most unlikely that you would prosecuted for copying your CDs onto your Ipod, but technically it is illegal. There was a consultation this year and the govt are considering introducing an exemption to allow this, but they haven't said what they're going to do as yet.
Obviously it's most unlikely that you would prosecuted for copying your CDs onto your Ipod, but technically it is illegal. There was a consultation this year and the govt are considering introducing an exemption to allow this, but they haven't said what they're going to do as yet.
clonmult said:
But the CD format explicity allows (via the SCMS bits) a digital copy to either another CD or other digital format (specifically MD or DCC).
If format shifting is illegal in the UK, then it follows that iTunes or Windows ripping an owned CD is therfore an illegal act.
The CD format is neither here nor there with regard to UK law. iTunes is fine, as you are explicitly paying for the downloaded track. You are correct that ripping an owned CD is technically illegal in the UK, as is recording something off the TV and keeping the recording.If format shifting is illegal in the UK, then it follows that iTunes or Windows ripping an owned CD is therfore an illegal act.
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