David Ayers Posted May 14, 2006 Report Posted May 14, 2006 I read in newspaper that copying music for personal use (e.g. ripping CDs on to hard drive or mp3 player) is illegal in UK. Surprised? I was. They surveyed people and found that 55% of adults did not know this (I'm surprised ANYBODY knew). Now, of course, for legal purposes I have to state I have never done such a thing and wouldn't know how. But, uhh, the law looks like a bit of an ass on this one. Since there is no legal difference between copying music you have paid for and music you haven't... you might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb, right? These are old laws, granted, framed before the existence of mp3... but NOT before the existence of copying technology per se (e.g. cassette). It puts me in mind of the contemptuous FBI warnings seen on US EMI Jazz issues. Why are music consumers constantly criminalised? What does the music industry gain, except to generate the determination of consumers to undermine them? Quote
Claude Posted May 14, 2006 Report Posted May 14, 2006 It is a ridiculous situation, especially with the popularity of MP3 players. But the music industry is ready to make concessions: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/05/10/bpi_talks_ripping/ Quote
David Ayers Posted May 14, 2006 Author Report Posted May 14, 2006 It is a ridiculous situation, especially with the popularity of MP3 players. But the music industry is ready to make concessions: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/05/10/bpi_talks_ripping/ Thanks for the link, Claude. On my reading, I wouldn't exactly say that they are willing to make concessions: BPI spokesman Matt Philips said: "Our submission to the Gowers Review does not say that the law should be changed to allow private copying. The submission states that we are willing to explore options to clarify what behaviour should be deemed acceptable for the consumer. Quote
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