Burning music CDs

[BenDToy]

Just asking for opinions really. Like many people I own a number of albums on vinyl. I believe I have therefore purchased the right to listen to this music, and if I choose to transfer them to audio tape or cd to listen to in the car for example, I am legally permitted to do so. Firstly is this correct, or am I technically acting illegally? Secondly, if that is legal, then am I allowed to create an 'improved' version by, for example, copying someone else's cd or downloading from winmx, or similar. Purely an academic exercise because I fully intend to continue to do so. Thanks for any opinions, whether or not they brand me a thief!

[Cactus]

I actually know the law on this one. The law states that it is illegal to record any copyrighted material to another format. Example; technically you are breaking the law if you rip CD tracks to your mp3 player, even if you own the original CD. It's a stupid, stupid law i know - which is probably why it is so rarely enforced. If it was you'd see people being arrested in the street for having an mp3 player full of music!

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I have a few CD's that i really value, and for this reason i've made copies of them for using in the car - technically, if i was stopped by a particularly over zealous policeman, i could be charged with music piracy. But i've bought the CD! I just don't want to get it scratched if i throw it in my glove compartment without it's case! I read a magazine article about this only the other day, they were complaining about manufacturers inciting people to pirate music in adverts for mp3 players - for god sake most CD creation software has mp3 encoding software included in it, and some have even got software for making wavs/mp3s from vinyl LP's!

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I think it's a law that's got to be looked at - but there are more urgent matters for David Blunkett to get stuck into first, like handguns for instance.

[Miss Zippy]

This isn't legal advice and it's been a few years since I studied intellectual property law, but I seem to recall that the law only really 'bites' when you make a copy of a copyrighted work with a view to selling it, hiring it out, exhibiting it in public or distributing it. Distributing would include giving copies to friends, whether or not you are paid. The relevant legislation is the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. I don't think FACT or the police are too concerned about copying purely for personal use.

[BenDToy]

Thanks to both so far. Interesting topic I think. I notice that Cactus refers to "another format". Does that include, for example, CD to CD or tape to tape? I notice that CD writers are sold with suggestions such as "make compilations of your favourite tracks" which would therefore be technically iilegal.

[j2buttonsw]

Unless they mean compiling tracks of music that you have composed on your computer (well it might).

[Cactus]

Hi, i didn't make a very good job of wording that last post - it was about 2am and i was tired! By "another format" i meant from CD to tape, or CD to mp3, or CD to minidisc. (or vinly LP to wav, mp3 or CD for that matter, and CD to CD is just as illegal.) I should also explain that people are under the common misconception that they are allowed to make copies of purchased music for their own personal use. This is wrong, the law states that you are not allowed to make copies even for your own personal use. This is the law regarding music CDs, but i'm pretty sure you're allowed to make a back-up CD of a PC game in case the original gets damaged. Hands up how many people have taped a CD to play in their car stereo? Most of us old enough to remember car cassette players i suspect. I'm not sure if that practise was illegal then, but it certainly is now. The good news is that it's a law that's hardly ever enforced. Here's a true story. The car parked in front of mine caught fire one night, setting light to mine. The Police were called, and after the Fire Brigade put out the blaze, the Police called at my house to get me to come and inspect the damage to my car. It was a write-off of course, so i began to take my belongings that were salvagable out of the glove box. I had some home recorded tapes from CDs (which i had bought) and when the PC noticed them he remarked "I hope they're not copies.". I gave him a look as if to say, "Just you dare. My car has been written off, through no fault of my own, and you're gonna try and arrest me for having home recorded tapes?" - (continued)

[Cactus]

He just laughed and said "I'm only kidding." Read as: "We know everybody does it, we'd never get any real work done if we had to arrest everyone who'd made themselves a copy of their own CD.". Regarding your comment about CD writer companies, that magazine article i mentioned covers that too. I think a line has to be drawn somewhere. If you copy music for financial gain, then i believe you should be punished accordingly. But, if you want to rip a track from a CD to a minidisc, or mp3 player for your own personal listening pleasure whilst on the move, then i believe you should be allowed to do so legally. After all, you have paid for the original source CD, so why shouldn't you be allowed to transfer it to another format to take out with you? Good luck with your vinly recording BenDToy, Roxio's Easy CD Creator Platinum comes with a feature called "Spin Doctor" - it allows you to reduce crackles and clicks from vinyl records, then burn them onto CD. =)

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(sorry, had to split the post into two - it was complaining about being over 2000chrts. Think i lost some html code somewhere during the copy & pasting too!)