Lawyer: Ripping MP3s Illegal, Grounds for Lawsuit

[Prrkitty]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,319276,00.html

Quote: You, too, could be sued for thousands of dollars by the major record companies — even if you've never once illegally downloaded music.

That's because at least one lawyer for the Recording Industry Association of America, the Big Four record companies' lobbying arm and primary legal weapon, considers the copying of songs from your own CDs to your own computer, for your own personal use, to be just as illegal as posting them online for all to share, according to a federal lawsuit filed in Arizona.

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I hope any of the judges that hears lawsuits of this nature... smack the RIAA and their lawyers with "stupidity charges". Common sense seems to be in short supply by the RIAA and their supporting lawyers.

[SpacemanDan]

And now we turn out attention to common sense...oh wait, he left the building.

They need a ding-dong smack on the head and badly. Since when is copying music from a CD to a computer illegal? Honestly, that's just to show how sue-happy some people are.

[Cloral]

Ripping songs is protected under 'fair use' policy, no matter how blue in the face the RIAA might go saying otherwise.

I hope they drop the entire lawsuit just because of that part of the legal brief. Just to shut them up.

[The_Amaster]

So, wait...I'm supposed to lug around a CD player as well because I can't transfer my discs to my iPod? Wow, makes you wonder if they even think about these cases.

[Pineconn]

If you download music that is clearly under copyright law for free, and you do not legally own that song, it is illegal. *sound of a gavel* My two cents.

[DarkDragon]

I sure hope that bullshit argument gets shot down in court. After all, people have been legally owning and using VCRs for decades, and the TV networks haven't yet been able to sue anyone for these "unauthorized copies."

[Russ]

You mean to tell me it is illegal to copy music from my CDs to my Ipod? That's rediculous! I hope this all gets resolved fairly quickly.

[Archibaldo]

This won't chane a thing. Pirating music is illegal and you barely hear of anybody getting sued because of it. People will continue to pirate music consequence free.

[Mitsukara]

Exactly what use does the RIAA think the MP3 format and players for it should be allowed to have? Exclusively pay-to-download rubbish, accompanied by their media control virus-esque crap that should itself be considered illegal?

Stopping piracy is laughable at best (even if you could, somehow, remove the internet from the equation, which would be nearly impossible without a massive wide-scale change made to the way the network functions, and even then I suspect small private networks would spring up like crazy; piracy existed loooooooong before the internet, ask Hong Kong and people with old mix tapes and Nintendo regarding the Famicom Disk System), and to speak out of blind assumption, I suspect the RIAA is doing more damage than anything else at this point.

[Icey]

If you download music that is clearly under copyright law for free, and you do not legally own that song, it is illegal. *sound of a gavel* My two cents.

That's not the issue in this case. The RIAA is arguing that to take a CD, that you own, and rip an MP3 from it for your own private use (such as to listen to on the computer or on an iPod) is illegal. Which defies both common sense and fair use, so hopefully their argument will get shot down quickly.

[Pineconn]

Exactly. I was inferring (via my subtle ways of inference) that downloading music is illegal, not ripping an MP3. I really must proofread my posts for clarity.

[Dechipher]

Exactly. I was inferring (via my subtle ways of inference) that downloading music is illegal, not ripping an MP3. I really must proofread my posts for clarity.

Stop posting drunk, Pineconn.

[MasterSwordUltima]

The pirate bay says hi. Also, what the hell is a CD?

[phattonez]

RIAA's Dream: Buy a CD so that you can play in a CD player. Buy a song online so that you can listen to it on your computer and MP3 player. My question is, what's the point of even having a CD now?

[MasterSwordUltima]

You need to extrapolate more on exactly what types of CDs.

Music CDs aren't worth crap anymore, unless you want a physical manifestation of your music, in the event that your harddrive gets wiped. Other than that, its eye candy. For what you pay for a single CD with an average of fifteen songs, you can get fifty songs for a few cents each on some music websites. And thats only the "legal" ways. [piratebay says hi again]

If you mean Vista install CDs, then they're strictly for placing your soda can on as to not smeg up your table. [Smeg ©MSU 2008, All Rights Reserved]

[Pineconn]

Stop posting drunk, Pineconn.

I'm 16. :p

Oh, and DART (an anti-alcohol school club of sorts) is popular where I live. And D.A.R.E. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D.A.R.E.), though it focuses on anti-drugs...

[Mitsukara]

Another thought: not that I use it because it sucks, but doesn't the standard Windows XP (and likely vista) form of Windows Media Player... y'know... rip songs from CDs to keep them in your "media library"? As a built in, primary feature that lazy people or people who don't know how to rip MP3s properly use all the time? If my relatives in Texas could figure out how to use it...

[Masamune]

I'm 16. :p

Oh, and DART (an anti-alcohol school club of sorts) is popular where I live. And D.A.R.E. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D.A.R.E.), though it focuses on anti-drugs...

I had a DARE class and a GREAT class. Lot of use those did me. :(

[phattonez]

You need to extrapolate more on exactly what types of CDs.

Music CDs aren't worth crap anymore, unless you want a physical manifestation of your music, in the event that your harddrive gets wiped. Other than that, its eye candy. For what you pay for a single CD with an average of fifteen songs, you can get fifty songs for a few cents each on some music websites. And thats only the "legal" ways. [piratebay says hi again]

If you mean Vista install CDs, then they're strictly for placing your soda can on as to not smeg up your table. [Smeg ©MSU 2008, All Rights Reserved]

That's what I'm saying. The only advantage that CD's have is higher quality, and you can't even really tell. So the RIAA is just trying to kill off that technology I guess.

[MottZilla]

The RIAA like the MPAA are greedy Nazi assholes. This is not news. They like to make shit up as if no one is going to call BS on it.

[Nicholas Steel]

That's what I'm saying. The only advantage that CD's have is higher quality, and you can't even really tell. So the RIAA is just trying to kill off that technology I guess.
once a FLAC portable music player comes then down go's the MP3 format for me... flac is lossless compression of audio. yes i cant have many songs on the device at once but considering there are 250g mp3 players, that would still hold thousands of A grade FLAC files.

[beefster09]

I'm NOT buying the same thing twice for any reason. I figure as long as you don't sell it or put it on the internet yourself, then you're okay.

[Fortis Nova]

I wonder what Apple thinks of this new lawsuit.