Jump to content

On the relative ethics and economics of used CD sales and cd burning


Recommended Posts

Tangentially, there's also the issue of whether one is "purchasing" the music or the object. Say I bought an artist's LP years ago that hasn't been released on CD. And say I want to make a needle drop CDR to play in my car. But I see that someone else has already posted the same music on-line, for (illegal) download. Is it okay for me to download the album (that I physically own on LP) and burn that or would that be "wrong" too? If the same album was legitimately released on CD at some later point, would I be obliged to but that?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 154
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

That's what I thought at first too, but I think he's really using the fact that burning cdrs is clearly harmful to show that the used cd market is also harmful. I think we all have to concede that point. The question then becomes one not of economics, but ethics - i.e. is burning a cdr somehow ethically worse than buying a used cd. I've weighed in on that and don't anticipate changing my mind, but I'm always open to the possibility...

A CD is a commodity, just like a car, guitar, microwave oven or any other product that can be legally purchased. Ownership of any of those products can be transferred by sale, gift, etc. All producers of those products are paid upon initial sale of the item, and give up any further claim to that piece of product, don't they? Why should a CD be considered any differently?

There's nothing ethically wrong with transferring ownership of anything you've legitimately purchased.

There is something wrong with duplicating something for which you don't have that right. It's introducing additional product into the market at prices far lower than the going price (in the case of CDRs, essentially free product). How can anyone say this is legitimately good for anyone on the "producing" side of the equation?

Fascinating thread, but let me complicate (muddy?) things further by again going back to my silly/hypothetical/still-unanswered question above.

There's nothing ethically wrong with transferring ownership of anything you've legitimately purchased.

So if one does legally purchase music from iTunes (or wherever) and burns them onto a CDR, why does that not become physical property that can be legitimately transfered to another person? It's exactly like a used CD, with the artist getting the money initially (though by a different distribution system), and the first owner transfering it by sale, gift, etc.

The RIAA would, of course, consider this illegal and wrong - and I'd suspect most of us would too. It is, legally, an illegal copy, but if legitimately paid for it should be exactly like a used CD (though obviously of less value since it lacks paperwork, etc.).

It's not really the same as selling a "real" cd copy that you own if you're keeping the files from which you burned the disc. If you stipulated that you also destroyed the downloaded files, then you have a closer comparison.

For the sake of argument: sure.

Man, what a bunch of losers we are to be engaged in this discussion on a Friday night! :lol: I'm bowing out now as I've got to put my girls to bed...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok, I was supposed to keep this a secret, but it's so absurd, y'all won't believe me. Besides, sometimes you gotta use the absurd to point out the obvious, right? And anyway, we be talking all this hypothetitheorhetorical "in principle" bullshit that's gonna get morphed innumerable kinds of viable ways once it hits the streets anyways, so what the fuck ever, ok?

Here's the deal -

I know this wacky "loner" type guy who's invented a machine that'll duplicate damn near anything. Cat lives in his mom's garage and shit. No girlfriend, wears smelly flannel shirts & nastyass chucktaylors all the time, etc. We all know the type, right?

So let's say that I buy me a nice new Lexus, drive it for a while, say, 100,000 miles, and decide to get me another one. Them's some damn good cars, them Lexuses, but I likes the thrill of a new ride every wonst in a while. I sell the first one to a friend, and for a damn cheap price, because this cat and me go way back and we be tight like that. One sale, two owners, only one "royalty" paid. And this on a car w/100,000 miles on it. Lexus don't even get pissed. Hell no.

Now let's say that I buy me a nice new Lexus, drive it for 100,000 miles, decide it's my car for life, don't never want to get rid of it, but I do want my best friend to check it out. I can feel the love just thinking about it (me and his sister had a really hot 'n' nasty thing going on back in the day, and he was totally cool when the shit took a hard left. Now that's a friend!) Maybe he'll buy himself a new one, maybe not. So I take the ride to my wacky "loner" type buddy, get a near-exact replica made of it (only flaw in this cat's machine is that it doesn't do exterior paint, so everything comes out flat grey) and give it to my homeboy, while I keep mine. Same deal - one sale, two owners, one "royalty" paid. And this on a car w/100,000 miles on it. Granted, it's a Lexus, but still...

Lexus still don't get pissed?

Edited by JSngry
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...