RIAA suing citizen for copying legally purchased CDs to PC

[method77]

Sure, we've heard RIAA-admiring lawyers affirm that ripping your own CDs is in fact "stealing," but it seems the aforementioned entity is putting its money where its mouth is in a case against Jeffrey Howell.

more...

[DudeAsInCool]

Pathetic

[rainbowdemon]

[Malicious Intent]

How did the RIAA even find out that he did this?

[method77]

so now all legal cd rippers (windows media, itunes, nero, etc...) are illegal?

LMFAO!

[DudeAsInCool]

Here's another article that was published in The Washington Post. I think the RIAA have damaged themselves beyond repair this time around...

"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."

"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."

[Malicious Intent]

so now all legal cd rippers (windows media, itunes, nero, etc...) are illegal?

LMFAO!

I don't think the RIAA/MPAA ever questioned that enabling technology was as illegal as the act they enable :p

[method77]

Digg comment:

Uh oh, George Bush better watch out! The Beatles have never released iTunes tracks... yet, according to his interview here:

He's got them on his iPod. I wonder if the RIAA will go after him next?

[rainbowdemon]

In a way, I can almost see their point. Most illegal file-sharing begins with ripping legally owned cds to a computer.

[Lord_of_the_Dense]

So they will sue "most" people then? How about the ones that have never file-shared? It's too much to differentiate in the world. A truly moronic endeavor.

[Malicious Intent]

In a way, I can almost see their point. Most illegal file-sharing begins with ripping legally owned cds to a computer.

Are you ... trolling?

[method77]

In a way, I can almost see their point. Most illegal file-sharing begins with ripping legally owned cds to a computer.

You are right. How'd I miss that?

:D

[Kooperman]

Perhaps the best advice I could give music lovers is to refrain from ever buying any more new CDs from these wise old RIAA member companies. It's just too dangerous to own something that might accidently be transferred to your computer while you're listening to it, making you an unwitting criminal. And surely the next step is making it mandatory that purchasers of CDs listen to their music only through headphones...should another person overhear the disc you're playing would no doubt be another crime, in the RIAA world. Face it, buying their music is quite a risk...so just say NO.

[rainbowdemon]

Good advice, Koop!!

:rolleyes:

[rainbowdemon]

Might have been bullshit from the start!!

[method77]

This is what RIAA stated on their site but took it down now. From archive.org:

If you choose to take your own CDs and make copies for yourself on your computer or portable music player, that's great. It's your music and we want you to enjoy it at home, at work, in the car and on the jogging trail.

http://web.archive.org/web/20070516072606/...fault.asp#stand

[boredspoons]

You are right. How'd I miss that?

:D

This discussion is bordering on criminal conspiracy, and by posting this, I am now a co-conspirator.

[DudeAsInCool]

From Idolator:

TechDirt is arguing that it's not the act of ripping that the RIAA is going after; it's where those files wind up on your hard drive, specifically if they're in a shared folder, that will raise the red flag. (For now, anyway!)

While we know that the RIAA is constantly pushing to extend both the meaning and scope of copyright law, in this case the details were pretty clear that they were not going after Howell for just ripping his CDs, but for putting those ripped files into a shared Kazaa folder. Now you can (and we do!) disagree that simply putting files into a shared folder are infringement, but that's different than just claiming that ripping the CDs is illegal or that he was being targeted just for ripping the CDs.

And wait, there's even more legalese afoot:

The filing points out that when Howell ripped his CDs and put them into a shared folder, those files were no longer "authorized." It's important to note that there's a difference between unauthorized and illegal. Beckerman seems to be saying that by saying "unauthorized" the RIAA means illegal -- but that need not be the case. It's perfectly legal to rip your CDs, even if it's not authorized. It's well established that ripping a CD for personal backup purposes is perfectly legal, even if it's not authorized. What the RIAA appears to be saying is that by putting those backup files into a shared folder, the rips no longer were made for personal use, thus pushing them over the line to illegal.

Read More

[DudeAsInCool]

Coolfer weighs in on the debate, suggesting that journalists have now become advocates for the consumer and against the RIAA.

[Kooperman]

Coolfer weighs in on the debate, suggesting that journalists have now become advocates for the consumer and against the RIAA.

Did you forget a link on this story?

[DudeAsInCool]

Did you forget a link on this story?

Nope - look under Coolfer

***

RIAAs Future Liner Notes - courtesy of Something Awful

[method77]

funny stuff

[DudeAsInCool]

NPR interviews Cary Sherman, President of the RIAA on a special, "Rip This, Sue That":

Tell me this isn't confusing... Marc Fisher writes in the Washington Post that the recording industry is suing an Arizona man for copying a CD he bought LEGALLY to his own computer. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) comes right out and says, no we're not! If you've ever put a CD into your computer, this is a case you want to pay attention to. And the only way to get to the bottom of things is to go right to the source. What lead to Marc Fisher's arguments? We'll ask him. What is the RIAA's position on ripping your own CDs? Will they sue you for dumping a CD to your iPod? We'll ask Cary Sherman, the President of the RIAA.

Listen Here

[DudeAsInCool]

The Washington Post has corrected itself:

"A Dec. 30 Style & Arts column incorrectly said that the recording industry "maintains that it is illegal for someone who has legally purchased a CD to transfer that music into his computer." In a copyright-infringement lawsuit, the industry's lawyer argued that the actions of an Arizona man, the defendant, were illegal because the songs were located in a "shared folder" on his computer for distribution on a peer-to-peer network."

Source: The Washington Post