[X4U] Any legal restrictions on CD songs as gift loaded on iPod

[DZ-Jay]

On Jun 16, 2006, at 06:09, Philip J Robar wrote:

>
> On Jun 16, 2006, at 2:37 AM, DZ-Jay wrote:
>
>> On Jun 15, 2006, at 23:19, Linda wrote:
>>
>>> Yes. A “backup” of the CD is for your personal use, not for gifting. 
>>> Ripped
>>> songs are for your own use, not for gifting on an iPod. Do people do 
>>> it
>>> anyway? Of course. Is it legal? No.
>>
>> Have any of you ever read the "Fair Use" clause of the Copyright Act, 
>> or are you just repeating what you here in the media?
>
> I'd love to hear your explanation of how giving someone a copy of a CD 
> when you keep the original is "Fair Use" and not stealing. (By the 
> way, I hate the RIAA and recording industry as much as the next guy, 
> but I don't condone stealing.)

	First, copyright infringement is *not* stealing, they are two separate 
concepts in the law.  The former means that a specific statute in the 
law has being violated; like not wearing your seat-belt or speeding 
over the speed-limit (for states that have these laws).  The latter 
implies that someone was deprived of their _rightful_ property.

	Second, my point was that there are Fair Use rights as stipulated by 
the Copyright Act, and then there is the modern interpretation of 
Copyright by the lay-people, fueled the media, which in turned is being 
fed by the legal beagles of the big music labels, large corporations, 
and other intellectual property owners.  In this Brave New World 
vision, intellectual property is just like physical property, so 
infringement is equal to stealing, even when nobody is being deprived 
of property.  What's more, unlike real property, intellectual property, 
some say, is somehow "natural", or god-given, and unalienable, and are 
right at this moment arguing that they cannot be given away, and 
therefore these rights belong to the heirs of the original authors 
eternally, regardless of any previous transfer by will and testament to 
third parties (see the current lawsuit between the Steinbeck family vs. 
Penguin Publishing).

	This might be the new legal interpretation of some, but most of it has 
not been tested in court yet, as most regular people settle when faced 
with a scary lawsuit from the RIAA.

	My advicefor the original poster is to consult a lawyer familiar with 
intellectual property rights, if indeed he is really serious and 
concerned about following the law.  However, the lawyer will probably 
just instruct him to play it safe and just buy a new copy of the CD 
(unless he really is ready to test the letter of the law).  Which is 
probably even cheaper and easier than consulting the lawyer to begin 
with.

	Then again, he can just give away his iPod with the ripped songs in 
it, and more than likely nobody will notice nor care.

	dZ.

-- 
"The mills of the gods grind slowly, yet the grind exceeding small."