[OP]
Member
Hopefully someone here can provide a definitive answer for me. Is it legal to burn copies of CD's I have bought so I can keep one in my office and one down in the shop or do I legally have to haul them back and forth or pay for a second copy?
Thanks.
Jason
"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote."
Member
Jason,
It is usually legal if used for personal use. The law has to provide you with a legal means to back up your software...but the minute you give a copy to someone else or sell to someone else it is against the law. This should cover MOST circumstances. The software usually comes with a "read me file" which has specifics.
Also for a definitive answer it might help to post the software title in question.
Last edited by Dewey Torres; 12-31-2008 at 2:14 PM.
Dewey
"Everything is better with Inlay or Marquetry!"
Moderator
Music or software? For software you are allowed to make a copy for archival purposes, in other words a backup. If you read the program's license terms there may be exceptions, allowing for additional copies to be made.
For music, "fair use" in the copyright law has provided that after buying the
CD you can make a copy for personal use if it's to make it more convenient for you, such as deleting songs you don't like, or changing the order of the songs.
Sammamish, WA
Epilog Legend 24TT 45W, had a sign business for 17 years, now just doing laser work on the side.
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[OP]
Member
Oops...I should have specified. I'm talking strictly about music here.
Jason
"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote."
Member
If its for your own personal use you are good to go. Its illegal to give someone else a copy. You can give them the original but you then must not keep a copy for yourself. If you change the cd's form by turning an audio cd into an mp3 on your computer it must not be shared with others via online means.
Member
If it was software, the software folks are getting smart, they make you register and activate on line so you would be out of luck is you wanted to use it on another machine.
When it comes to music, I read that the music companies are slowing way down on prosecuting people that share their music on line, instead the music companies are working with ISPs to shut down abusers that share online.
At one time I had over 2000 Napster down loads, over 90% of those songs had expired copyrights. I didn't care much for music that was newer than expired copyright material.
As has been written if it is music it can be copied for personal use but not shared.
David B
[OP]
Member
That maybe true in theory but I have yet to buy a piece of software that I couldn't use on several different machines.Originally Posted by David G Baker
The exceptions would be anything I have bought for my BlackBerry.
Jason
Last edited by Jason Christenson; 12-31-2008 at 5:13 PM.
"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote."
Contributor
Yep, even Microsoft Office can legally be installed on multiple machines in the same household. I think there's a limit of five. My wife and I bought new computers at the same time and I had problems - had to return one computer and had to do a system restore on the other (and more problems). When I went to install it the last time, I had to call MS and explain why it was being installed so many times. They gave me a code number and I was able to get the last install done.
Mike
Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.
Contributor
The answer is "maybe". There's no firm answer 100% of the time for every location across the US. Anyone who claims there is is just plain ill informed.
There's a number of variables such as the "user agreement" and/or "acceptable use policy" attached to the music. there is also Federal and state law which varies from state to state (VA recently enacted some of the toughest laws in the nation). Some artists may allow you to copy for personal use, others may not in the "user agreement", it all depends...
Check out the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) web site
http://www.riaa.com/physicalpiracy.p...online_the_law
With all that said, will the cops knock down your door if you make a copy for your own personal use? Not hardly, but start distributing those copies for free or profit then you'll raised it to a whole new level and you just might get a visit
Mike
Member
Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, 464 U.S. 417 (1984)
the district court in that case deemed personal copies of legally obtained material fair use. fair use is the legal principle that allows the reproduction of copyrighted works for news reporting, art criticism, etc. the supreme court upheld that decision.
there is absolutely a clear answer, the above is it. to hold a license agreement above a copyright the copyright owner has to prove that you willingly surrendered fair use rights. since you want to make a personal copy of a CD, you obviously do not wish to do so.
the original lawsuit was over the first Sony betamax machine. Sony won and the rest is history...and millions in billable hours for the RIAA's attorneys to try to convince people that the law isn't the law.
Last edited by Neal Clayton; 12-31-2008 at 10:01 PM.
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