homer
Member
Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 1683 |
I'm such a sucker for an argument. Sigh. 
quote:
Notice the part about the RECORDING MEDIUM. Meaning, you're allowed to make a tape (even a DIGITAL TAPE! ) of a song, and distribute it to your friends for non-commercial uses.
Are you an intellectual properties lawyer? I ask because you are taking some extreme liberties in translating the legalese of the statement you are quoting from...and unless you are an intellectual properties lawyer, I find it hard to believe your interpretation.
The statement above says that it is legal to manufacture, import, and distribute an audio recording
medium.
That means that it is legal to sell blank tapes, CDs, what have you...
I've read it over and over, and I simply can not find where it says that I am "allowed to make a tape (even a DIGITAL TAPE! ) of a song, and distribute it to [my] friends for non-commercial uses"
bblue, I've been in the business of dealing with copyright issues for quite a few years now and, while I am not a lawyer, I can assure you that you are reading WAY too much into that paragraph of text. You are really arguing against the basic principals of copyright law: YOU CAN NOT COPY COPYRIGHTED MATERIALS.
The paragraph of text you are reading has little, if anything to do with the consumer. It was written so that manufacturers and distributors of recording devices would in no way be liable in copyright disputes. In otherwords, if you are ever convicted of breaking copyright laws, Sony can't be held liable in anyway even though you used a Sony MP3 player to copy the song.
It protects the device manufacturer. Not the consumer.
That's not to say it isn't a good law. Without it, we wouldn't have the opportunity to purchase digital recording devices.
Back in the late 70s, a similiar debate was brought up when VCRs first came out. The movie industry fought hard to prohibit the sale of them, as they felt it was going to cripple their industry. It was decided that we, as consumers, have the right to record and copy television programs for our own personal use, and that it should be legal to sell VCRs because of that.
Of course, there were and are people who would copy movies and such to give to their friends. This was and is illegal. However, the movie industry began renting videos and the revenue stream from that made up for the few illegal copies of movies that people would make.
It has been resurected in the digital age, because the copyright owner has lost one more level of protection. With analog recording, the copy was ALWAYS of a lesser quality than the original, so there was always some incentive to purchase a legal copy. However, with digital technolgy, a copy can be as good as the original, so there is less of a need for someone to purchase the original.
It basically comes down to how big of a fish you are. If you are copying CDs to give to a few friends, it probably isn't worth the time nor the effort for a record label to hunt you down and prosecute you. When a factory in China starts pumping out 10,000 illegally copied CDs a day, well, then the record company has a bit more motivation to go after them.
So, keep making copies for your friends...you are relatively safe from being prosecuted. But do realize that you ARE breaking the law...no matter how you interpret that paragraph of yours.
__________________
We're all naked if you turn us inside out.
-David Byrne
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That is...
) of a song, and distribute it to your friends for non-commercial uses.
05-28-2001 06:00 AM
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