RIAA: You can't copy your purchased CDs to your own computer

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

________________________________________
From: Dan Gillmor [dan () gillmor com]
Sent: Monday, December 31, 2007 1:47 AM
To: David Farber
Subject: Re: RIAA

Dave,

 From the RIAA's website at some point in the past, though it's been
removed:

"If you choose to take your own CDs and make copies for yourself on
your computer or portable music player, that's great. It's your music
and we want you to enjoy it at home, at work, in the car and on the
jogging trail."

http://web.archive.org/web/20070516072606/http://www.riaa.com/issues/ask/default.asp#stand

Also, from the Supreme Court oral arguments in the Grokster case,
Donald Virrelli, on behalf of the entertainment companies:

"The record companies, my clients, have said, for some time now, and
it's been on their Website for some time now, that it's perfectly
lawful to take a CD that you've purchased, upload it onto your
computer, put it onto your iPod. There is a very, very significant
lawful commercial use for that device, going forward."

Such a sleazy crew they are...

Dan

> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
> Subject: RIAA: You can't copy your purchased CDs to your own computer
> Date: Sun, 30 Dec 2007 05:43:25 -0800
>
> <snip>
>
> The Howell case was not the first time the industry has argued that
> making a personal copy from a legally purchased CD is illegal. At
> the Thomas trial in Minnesota, Sony BMG's chief of litigation,
> Jennifer Pariser, testified that "when an individual makes a copy of
> a song for himself, I suppose we can say he stole a song." Copying a
> song you bought is "a nice way of saying 'steals just one copy,' "
> she said.
>
> But lawyers for consumers point to a series of court rulings over
> the last few decades that found no violation of copyright law in the
> use of VCRs and other devices to time-shift TV programs; that is, to
> make personal copies for the purpose of making portable a legally
> obtained recording.
>
> As technologies evolve, old media companies tend not to be the
> source of the innovation that allows them to survive. Even so, new
> technologies don't usually kill off old media: That's the good news
> for the recording industry, as for the TV, movie, newspaper and
> magazine businesses. But for those old media to survive, they must
> adapt, finding new business models and new, compelling content to
> offer.
>
> The RIAA's legal crusade against its customers is a classic example
> of an old media company clinging to a business model that has
> collapsed. Four years of a failed strategy has only "created a whole
> market of people who specifically look to buy independent goods so
> as not to deal with the big record companies," Beckerman says.
> "Every problem they're trying to solve is worse now than when they
> started."
>
> The industry "will continue to bring lawsuits" against those who
> "ignore years of warnings," RIAA spokesman Jonathan Lamy said in a
> statement. "It's not our first choice, but it's a necessary part of
> the equation. There are consequences for breaking the law." And,
> perhaps, for firing up your computer.
>
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/28/AR2007122800693.html?nav=hcmodule


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