The RIAA

[AL-KHAWARIZMI]

Ah, Perhaps this will help?

Here is an excerpt of an interview with Matt Oppenheim from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA):

Scenario I:

Imagine two people are locked in two different rooms. Each has access to a computer with Internet access and radio with tape recorder. Neither person has ever purchased a CD, cassette, etc. After an hour you open the doors and both are listening to the same song. One recorded it off the radio, the other downloaded it off the Internet. Why is one permitted while the other (the Internet recording) is considered theft and criminal?

Matt Oppenheim responded:

Way back in 1992, Congress drew a distinction between analog recording (on that tape recorder) and digital recording (the computer). In legislation enacted that year, they said that infringement actions cannot be filed against consumers who engage in copying using analog devices and certain types of digital devices on which royalties have been paid and which protect against serial copying of the copy.

But regular copyright principles apply to any other form of copying. Thus, downloading a song from the Internet without the permission of the copyright owner is infringement and clearly illegal -- and a large number of courts have so held.

Let's face it -- taping off the radio is time-consuming and quality is lousy. On the Internet however, it is extremely easy to download and the audio quality is near CD. Millions of people now mistakenly believe it is legal. The RIAA, among others, has been trying to educate people that downloading recordings from unauthorized services on the Internet is, in fact, illegal.

Scenario II:

If I own a music CD, is it legal for me to download the digitally compressed music for that CD (exact same version) via a peer-to-peer music service? What about downloading I track I already own from a P2P service to transfer it to an MP3 format? If not, isn't this a violation of my fair use rights as a consumer?

Is it legal for me to make and distribute (not for personal profit), to my friends and non-commercially, "mix CDs" that contain compilations of music from my personal collection? If not, please reconcile explicitly with the language of the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992.

Matt Oppenheim responded:

As a technical matter, it is illegal to download a recording from another that is not yours. As a practical matter, there is no reason to do it. It is easier these days to rip a recording from a CD than to download it. And, when you rip the CD, you do not open up your computer to all of the spyware and other viruses that are part and parcel of most illegal P2P services.

No, [it is not legal to make and distribute (not for personal profit), to my friends and non-commercially, "mix CDs" that contain compilations of music from my personal collection?]

Individuals are not permitted to make copies of their copyrighted recordings and distribute them to others without permission from the copyright owner. Whether or not you do it for free or for profit is irrelevant; the impact on the copyright owner is the same, they do not have the ability to sell their artistic work to others because they have received an unauthorized free copy.

The Audio Home Recording Act permits individuals who are using special Digital Audio Recording Devices (such as Mini-Disc Players or Digital Audio Tape Recorders) to make limited copies for their "noncommercial" personal use. It does not permit individuals to make copies on other digital devices for distribution to friends or other people.

Scenario III:

What are we buying when we buy entertainment media? Is it a license to view/listen to the product, or is it just a copy of the title that we have limited rights to? That is, do we own the license to view/listen to the content in any format -- or when we buy a CD, are we just purchasing the format of the content?

Matt Oppenheim responded:

When you buy a CD, you should feel free to consume the music. That means you should listen to that disc, and feel free to make a copy of that disc for your own use so that you can have a copy in your home and your office. You should feel free to copy it onto other formats, such as .mp3, so that you can listen to it on your computer. You should feel free to copy it to cassette.

The only time you run into problems is if you begin to distribute your copies to others.

Scenario IV:

I own "John Denver's Greatest Hits Volume 2" on 8 track. Now, do I own a copy of the song for personal use, or do I just own the physical cartridge and have no rights to copy the song to another format (like a cassette, to listen to from my cassette player, or a CD or MP3.)

But recently, I heard the RIAA is trying to make this practice illegal. To me this seems unreasonable since I already bought a copy of John Denver's Greatest Hits, and would like to listen to it on my cassette player, and especially since the 8-track player is becoming obsolete.

The concept of making a copy for personal use of material I already bought isn't a criminal act or a violation of copyrights. The store was paid its money, took its share, the recording company got paid, John Denver got paid. I'm not stealing because they already sold me a copy.

My own 8-track deck is not going to last much longer, but I still want to listen to these songs. Is this illegal, and, if so, isn't this a violation of my consumers' fair use rights?

Matt Oppenheim responded:

Everything you described sounds fine to me. You should enjoy your John Denver 8 Track, and feel free to copy it to other media.

The only issue would be if you decided you wanted to download somebody else's copy of John Denver's Greatest Hits (which was likely from a CD, and a much higher audio quality).

Just as you would not go into a video store and steal a DVD copy of Star Wars and claim that you should be permitted to do that because you own the VHS version, you cannot download somebody else's copy of a recording.

Source: PBS

Praise Umanita!

~Al-Khawarizmi

 

[gothika]

riaa

sounds to me that the record companies are big bullies...

They sued a 12 year old girl who lives in a housing development (a place where more then one family lives to get by.. like a shelter) with her mother for 2000.00.. nice huh? she has brothers and everything too. if her mother cant afford for them to live even in their own appartment how does the record companies expect them to pay for 2000.00 what pigs they are. at least for that family the peer to peer foundation herd about that and paid their lawsuit for them.

I agree with they need a plan, but not every one is stealing music..

I download music ahead of time to see if i want to buy the cd or not. If i buy lets just say a marilyn manson cd today because it just came out. i herd ONE song on the radio and it was good, ok is that enough for you to buy the cd? well its not for me, i want to at least preview a few more songs before i go out and spend 14.00 that i can barely let go of. what if there is only ONE good song they play on the radio, and the rest are filler tracks....

I think we all should sue the record companies! know why? because these companies force the bands to make bullshit tracks to fill up the cd wasting their time and wasting our money. Best Buy wont allow returns of a cd if its opened, where's the legality in that? if i dont like the band after i buy the cd im stuck with it and they have my hard earned money.

Where does the right as a cd buyer come into play? i buy cd's and put the tracks into my computer for my use, is that illigal? i do that incase my cd's break which in my life happen all the time from toating the from class to class lending them to friends so they can PREVIEW the cd to see if they like them or not. Will i be sued if i have music on my computer!@? i dont think so, you know someone had to buy the cd or program to get it on kazaa / kazaalite for people to listen to. they are privatly sharing with their paid for murchandise. They are not selling it are they? once someone buys the property then it is theirs to do what they want right?

The bottom line is that the record companies are @$$holes who sit in big offices drinking down cappichinos and latteas, thinking of ways to become richer then they already are.

I dont feel bad about "stealing music" infact i encourage it!
ill tell all my friends i steal music online, and tell them how they can too.
Watch mtv for an hour, look at the music videos and how much you think they cost to make each one.
I pay for concerts i goto, 100$ for ozzfest per ticket, 30$ for halloweenie roast (miami concert) per ticket
40$ for Bonzai (another miami concert) per ticket
Anything down at the factory is like 25+ per ticket
Yeah the bands are really loosing money.....

For the record companies, i have one message for you all... Eat my shorts... im 16 and i steal music! hope you go out of buisness so the bands can actually do some good. My band was awasome, couldnt get any respect form you asssssessss! so yeah... looooossseee mooonnnneeeyy losers.

i dont feel bad one bit. I pay the bands not you.

Oh and dont expect to find me so soon, i have mannny computers i "steal" music with.. lol... i make them

Its not like i going to best buy sticking a cd under my arm and walking out.. not thats what i call stealing, not downloading.

Meow! (sorry i wrote so much.. lol)