Ripping borrowed CDs legal?

[LJazz]

Does anyone know if it is a violation of copyright laws (i.e., illegal) to rip (or otherwise copy) for one's own use a CD borrowed from a library (which presumably has been paid for with taxpayer money)? I know that there are all kinds of moral issues with this, and personally I believe in supporting the music and the artist by purchasing CDs or downloads, but I recently saw a thread somewhere that got me thinking about this and I was just curious whether the practice is technically legal.

Edited June 13, 2006 by LJazz

[Dan Gould]

Does anyone know if it is a violation of copyright laws (i.e., illegal) to rip (or otherwise copy) for one's own use a CD borrowed from a library (which presumably has been paid for with taxpayer money)? I know that there are all kinds of moral issues with this, and personally I believe in supporting the music and the artist buy purchasing CDs or downloads, but I recently saw a thread somewhere that got me thinking about this and I was just curious whether the practice is technically legal.

I'm not a lawyer but I am aslo certain it is not.

[Claude]

I can't answer on the US situation, but in most european countries there are private copying exceptions which cover this situation. In return, rightholders are entitled to get their share from the levies that are perceived on sales of copying devices (recorders, hard drives) and blank media.

The fact that taxpayer's money is involved is irrelevant here.

[relyles]

I can't locate the exact language in the Copyright Act at the moment, but my recollection is that only the owner of a lawfully made copy of copyrighted material is entitled to make a copy for personal use. Since someone who borrows a CD from the library would not be the owner of that CD, he or she is not permitted to make a copy of that CD under the Copyright Act.

Edited June 13, 2006 by relyles

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

I've seen a thread somewhere in which it was pointed out that, because of some legal anomaly, it isn't even legal to copy records you have bought for your own purposes - eg to tape your own LP so you can play it in the car stereo. This law is so bad that it isn't enforced, but it's there, apparently. So copying a record borrowed from a library, even though in Britain the public library system pays a bulk royalty to copyright owners, is certainly illegal.

MG

[relyles]

I have just spent a little time reviewing the Copyright Act and I can't even find any language that allows the owner of CD to make a copy.

[Claude]

I've seen a thread somewhere in which it was pointed out that, because of some legal anomaly, it isn't even legal to copy records you have bought for your own purposes - eg to tape your own LP so you can play it in the car stereo. This law is so bad that it isn't enforced, but it's there, apparently. So copying a record borrowed from a library, even though in Britain the public library system pays a bulk royalty to copyright owners, is certainly illegal.

That is in the UK only, which has no private copying exception at all. In the US, there is a fair use provision which covers some forms of copying, but I don't know the details.

Edited June 13, 2006 by Claude

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

I've seen a thread somewhere in which it was pointed out that, because of some legal anomaly, it isn't even legal to copy records you have bought for your own purposes - eg to tape your own LP so you can play it in the car stereo. This law is so bad that it isn't enforced, but it's there, apparently. So copying a record borrowed from a library, even though in Britain the public library system pays a bulk royalty to copyright owners, is certainly illegal.

That is in the UK only, which has no private copying exception at all. In the US, there is a fair use provision which covers some forms of copying, but I don't know the details.

Ah, just us - of course. And the USA, from what Relyles just posted.

MG

[Claude]

This means it's also illegal to copy your CDs to your iPod

[relyles]

I could be missing something. I am a lawyer, but not a copyright lawyer.

On the issue of fair use, I do not think it covers personal use. The act talks about things such as criticism, teaching, scholarship and research.

[LJazz]

I could be missing something. I am a lawyer, but not a copyright lawyer.

On the issue of fair use, I do not think it covers personal use. The act talks about things such as criticism, teaching, scholarship and research.

Seems like the issue is much more complicated than I initially thought. I think the issue of fair use, while referring in the act to the things that you mentioned above, has been interpreted by the courts in the US to apply more broadly than that. Clearly the Record Industry Association would say that the answer to my question is that such activity violates the copyright law. I found the following which I found interesting.

RIAA CD ripping

[Claude]

Stranger that this hasn't been clarified in the US law itself. Maybe the subject is too touchy.

In the UK, the record industry is aware that forbidding all personal copies, including copying one's CDs to portable players, is unrealistic:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/05/10/bpi_talks_ripping/

[sheldonm]

Stranger that this hasn't been clarified in the US law itself. Maybe the subject is too touchy.

In the UK, the record industry is aware that forbidding all personal copies, including copying one's CDs to portable players, is unrealistic:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/05/10/bpi_talks_ripping/

...we'll be talking/debating this subject till the end of time!

m~

[AllenLowe]

best thing, than, it just to photocopy the CD -

[Ken Dryden]

No matter how U.S. copyright law reads, I can't imagine any musician or label making a fuss about a CD owner making a personal copy on Ipod or a CD-R exclusively for his own use. For example, some folks might not want to take CDs into a hot car, preferring to leave CD-Rs instead. Not only would a label have trouble tracking such dubbing by individuals, I think it would probably be laughed out of court in most jurisdictions. Making copies for anyone else is another matter.

I don't burn CD-Rs from my vast CD collection for anyone. I don't have the time to tie up my stereo and my computer doesn't have a burner.