Can you download music/CDs of CDs you own ?

[302efi]

Lets say I wanted to listen to some of my old CDs that are scratched and some of the songs won't play.

Since I leagally own the CDs as I paid for them, is it legal for me to download them again over a peer to peer ?

 

[0roo0roo]

ethically in the right
riaa lawyers don't care though.

 

[Jeff7]

Uh oh, did anyone hear that? The terrorist watchlist just increased by one.

 

[alfa147x]

Originally posted by: Jeff7
Uh oh, did anyone hear that? The terrorist watchlist just increased by one.

He wants a bunny to take over the world, in his case then by 2

 

[302efi]

Wow..so your saying if I have 200 songs on my PC that I've downloaded but I also own them on CD, that the RIAA could say I was stealing them ?

Where do they draw the line between owning and stealing ?

Or is it the fact it was downloaded on a peer to peer ?

 

[302efi]

Bunny = hsuB

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: 302efi
Wow..so your saying if I have 200 songs on my PC that I've downloaded but I also own them on CD, that the RIAA could say I was stealing them ?

Where do they draw the line between owning and stealing ?

Or is it the fact it was downloaded on a peer to peer ?

by ripping the cd you are already technically a criminal.

lawyers and people who sue folks for 250k a song obviously have no scruples to begin with.

 

[Baked]

I never get how people can scratch up their CDs and DVDs. You put sandpaper in the disc tray?

 

[302efi]

by ripping the cd you are already technically a criminal.

In that case how can there be so much software out there for ripping music to your computer ?

For gods sake its built into the OS's !

What about ITunes and MP3 players ect ?

So I rip a CD to put the songs on my MP3, I just comitted a criminal act ?

I could see if someone has 1000's of songs in their sharing folder for a peer to peer

LOL @ RIAA

 

[Kadarin]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
by ripping the cd you are already technically a criminal.

Source?

 

[302efi]

Damn 0roo0roo is right !

On Edit, maybe not

 

[Kadarin]

Originally posted by: 302efi
Damn 0roo0roo is right !

No, he is not. Read the article.

1. The article states an argument put forth by the RIAA that making a backup recording of your purchased music (for which you do not own the copyright) is not an example of Fair Use. This argument has not been tested in court.

2. The RIAA does not make laws (at least, not directly).

Critical thinking, people. Use it, love it.

 

[302efi]

Please read my Edit

 

[Aluvus]

"Format shifting" is a (mostly) protected form of fair use. No one could successfully sue you for downloading albums you already purchased in another format. If the tracks you download are not exactly the same as what you have previously paid for (for instance, one track is a rip of a remastered "Greatest Hits" track and not the version on the original album that you have), it would conceivably be possible to argue that these are two distinct works. But I doubt the courts would be receptive to that argument.

However, if in the course of downloading those albums you also upload them to someone (which is normal behavior for, say, Bit Torrent), you have a problem.

 

[frostedflakes]

Copyright law is weird. You don't actually "own" the music on a CD, but rather, you have purchased a piece of plastic and a license that allows you to listen to the music on said piece of plastic an unlimited number of times. Or at least that's how I understand it. I'd tend to think that technically, downloading an album you purchased would not be legal, but morally I don't see any problem with it. Don't get caught, I guess?

And as Aluvus pointed out, if you seed the album to others, you most definitely can get in trouble. It wouldn't be for downloading, but for providing the IP to other people who may not be downloading for legitimate reasons.

 

[irishScott]

I think that you could argue that you were "using it as a backup" and that would make it legal.

 

[Canai]

You can download, or at least you won't get prosecuted for it.

Uploading though will get you in trouble, so that pretty much rules out torrents and the like, since you are always uploading.

 

[QED]

IANAL, but my good friend is an IP attorney. From my discussions with him, I've gathered it is completely legal to download a song that you already have a licence to (i.e. you have already purchased the CD)-- but sharing the song with anyone else who does not have a license is NOT legal (and hence most RIAA lawsuits are against those who have shared files, not just downloaded files).

Keep in mind this is the same friend who told me years ago that he thought TiVo was going to get its pants sued off, since at the time the courts had ruled that even using a VCR to record television programs was not fair use unless the user watched the recording just one time and then promptly destroyed it (i.e. technically you cannot record a TV show and save the recording indefinately, or watch it more than once).

 

[irishScott]

Originally posted by: QED
IANAL, but my good friend is an IP attorney. From my discussions with him, I've gathered it is completely legal to download a song that you already have a licence to (i.e. you have already purchased the CD)-- but sharing the song with anyone else who does not have a license is NOT legal (and hence most RIAA lawsuits are against those who have shared files, not just downloaded files).

Keep in mind this is the same friend who told me years ago that he thought TiVO was going to get its pants sued off, since at the time the courts had ruled that even using a VCR to record television programs was not fair use unless the user watched the recording just one time and then promptly destroyed it (i.e. you cannot record a TV show and save the recording indefinately, or watch it more than once).

:laugh: That's how my family got half of our movies before DVD came along. Still have a lot of classics on recorded VHS.

 

[theprodigalrebel]

Here's a somewhat different scenario: I own an album on CD. I download the same album off P2P, only this time I get a 24-bit/96KHz super-high-resolution lossless rip from the DVD-Audio disc (or some other new-age digital format). Am I allowed to get the 'free' upgrade in sound quality? If I own a movie on DVD, can I legally download the same movie's 20GB BD-rip?

I'm guessing 'they' would have a very real problem with that.

(Not arguing for any side, just curious)

 

[1prophet]

When you are downloading is it 100% download or a partial upload/download through a peer network?

 

[Kadarin]

This is a similar situation as compared to what got the original mp3.com in trouble. They had a "storage locker" system where you used to be able to have mp3.com scan your cd, then give you access to their own copy online, and thus you could access your cd collection from anywhere on the internet once you've "proved ownership". The problem was that mp3.com was using a different copy of the recording, and they lost the case. Eventually, a record label bought the site, and a great music resource turned into shit.

 

[biggestmuff]

Go one step further with that scratched CD example. What if the CD is smashed? You still 'own' the disc, correct?

 

[Lonyo]

Peer 2 Peer downloading even of something you own is 100% ILLEGAL.
You are sharing (uploading) as you download. You don't own the copyright so you are sharing without authorisation, which means you are breaking the law, whether you own an original copy or not.
Now, if you were downloading only, and not uploading at the same time, you could try and argue that you should be allowed to do that. But peer2peer where you upload as you download is always going to be illegal, you're sharing the damned thing.

 

[ObiDon]

Originally posted by: Baked
I never get how people can scratch up their CDs and DVDs. You put sandpaper in the disc tray?

or you never put them away or you store them in one of those cd wallets.
one of my friends always kept his originals in one of those huge cd wallets. they always ended up getting scratched anyway. after i explained what was happening he stopped using the wallets.

from that day on, anytime we heard a cd skip, we referred to it as a "caselogic remix"