cronincal

this is getting ridiculous.

Download Uproar: Record Industry Goes After Personal Use
By Marc Fisher
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, December 30, 2007; M05

Despite more than 20,000 lawsuits filed against music fans in the years since they started finding free tunes online rather than buying CDs from record companies, the recording industry has utterly failed to halt the decline of the record album or the rise of digital music sharing.

Still, hardly a month goes by without a news release from the industry's lobby, the Recording Industry Association of America, touting a new wave of letters to college students and others demanding a settlement payment and threatening a legal battle.

Now, in an unusual case in which an Arizona recipient of an RIAA letter has fought back in court rather than write a check to avoid hefty legal fees, the industry is taking its argument against music sharing one step further: In legal documents in its federal case against Jeffrey Howell, a Scottsdale, Ariz., man who kept a collection of about 2,000 music recordings on his personal computer, the industry maintains that it is illegal for someone who has legally purchased a CD to transfer that music into his computer.

The industry's lawyer in the case, Ira Schwartz, argues in a brief filed earlier this month that the MP3 files Howell made on his computer from legally bought CDs are "unauthorized copies" of copyrighted recordings.

"I couldn't believe it when I read that," says Ray Beckerman, a New York lawyer who represents six clients who have been sued by the RIAA. "The basic principle in the law is that you have to distribute actual physical copies to be guilty of violating copyright. But recently, the industry has been going around saying that even a personal copy on your computer is a violation."

RIAA's hard-line position seems clear. Its Web site says: "If you make unauthorized copies of copyrighted music recordings, you're stealing. You're breaking the law and you could be held legally liable for thousands of dollars in damages."

They're not kidding. In October, after a trial in Minnesota -- the first time the industry has made its case before a federal jury -- Jammie Thomas was ordered to pay $220,000 to the big record companies. That's $9,250 for each of 24 songs she was accused of sharing online.

Whether customers may copy their CDs onto their computers -- an act at the very heart of the digital revolution -- has a murky legal foundation, the RIAA argues. The industry's own Web site says that making a personal copy of a CD that you bought legitimately may not be a legal right, but it "won't usually raise concerns," as long as you don't give away the music or lend it to anyone.

Of course, that's exactly what millions of people do every day. In a Los Angeles Times poll, 69 percent of teenagers surveyed said they thought it was legal to copy a CD they own and give it to a friend. The RIAA cites a study that found that more than half of current college students download music and movies illegally.

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.

brian_wilbanks

the RIIA can suck my ass!!!!

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If you don't like my fire, then don't come around, cuz I'm about to burn one down.

DannyBoy

BOOO!!! HISSSS!!!! BOOOOO!!! Sums up what I feel about this.

CosmicRocker

I don't download -afraid of virusus

But I have a question
how do the artists get paid if all the music is free?

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Traveling Wilburys (l to r)

Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, George Harrison, Roy Orbison

brian_wilbanks

Live shows......plus they still sell a certain amount of disks I'm sure.
Pearl Jam has been encouraging bootlegging for a long time. I dont think they're doing oo bad.

I think it's a crime to pay for a CD that doesnt have a liner jacket with lyrics and some other bonuses.

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If you don't like my fire, then don't come around, cuz I'm about to burn one down.

cronincal

how do i copy the disc i bought to carry in my car to preserve the original and play at home? do i have to buy a new copy of a disc every time one gets scratched and won't play right? why should the music industry get paid time and time again from the same person for the same music?

brian_wilbanks

Exactly............

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If you don't like my fire, then don't come around, cuz I'm about to burn one down.

Lolli

If they didn't rip of the consumer in the first with over-inflated prices on CDs (and concerts) then probably people wouldn't be downloading in hoards.

They also get money from royalties, sponsorships/ads, merchandise not to mention gift baskets, and other freebies for being a celebrity. They're overpaid for what they do anyways.

jowey

Microsoft is doing the same thing with its software as RIAA, why I have moved to Linux. I have four machines at home, been purchasing one OS with each upgrade 3.11, 95, XP. With XP they had this license thing, which I ignored until it crashed. I noticed the trend and the RIAA's actions so I made the leap to Linux.

Crippled sound players, video, photo, Office which is upgraded and full of holes. Then there is all the junk that its installations spews.

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ImusWallower

if it is illegal to have the music stored on your computer, why do itunes and microsoft allow you to rip?

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"I would have to say Cooper would cost less than Clooney

Cooper looks more feminine and he doesn't seem like he would be an asshole about it." Dan S referring to whom he would go gay for