Because what you buy with your $15-20 is *not* the right to listen to it as you claim, but a license to own a physical manifestation (a copy) of a copyrighted work (the music). Within that license (due to US copyright law) are a few additional rights -- it's okay to make a backup copy of it, it's okay to excerpt and republish *small portions* of the work in the context of critical review and academic purposes, and a few other exceptions covered by "fair use." There are also restrictions specifically prohibited in that license -- broadcasting, renting, copying for profit etc.From: "Larry le Mac" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> As music is not purchased, just the right to listen to it, why should I have to re-purchase it ???
So, for the same reason that the record company is not responsible to give you a new copy if you lose your original, neither are they obligated to provide you with a "fresh" copy of the work every time the format shifts.
Of course, it can also be argued that you *don't* have to re-purchase it. Your original purchase's license doesn't expire when the format shifts. You can continue to enjoy that LP for as long as it's playable.
I also have in excess of 1000 CDs and have found a few CDs exhibit this fatal flaw.
The most crucial is one which is out of "print"
Various artists "Money or the gun - Stairways to heaven"
I can't even rip it to the Mac in order to try and clean it up.
Surely if I was to find it in MP3/AAC format on the net I should be legally entitled to download it ?!?
Basically this is the issue of this threqad... :o)
Again, let me state that I'm not a lawyer, but as someone who has been involved in many court cases of copyright I feel that I have a *little* bit of insight on this. My word should definitely *not* be taken as authoritative, just slightly better informed than the average joe on the street.
So, to address your question: the law, as it exists in the US at the moment, simply doesn't address this -- and probably won't until sufficient court precedent or copyright-law reformation comes along to clear it up.
If you own a record, it's legal for you to copy it to MP3 format and listen to it in iTunes. So why shouldn't it be just as legal to download the MP3 *someone else* made of the exact same music and just save yourself the bother of doing the ripping yourself?
This is an area, quite clearly, where the law needs serious reform. The answer to your actual question is "no, it's not legal under present law because the digital copy didn't come from YOUR record/cd," but I certainly agree with you that if you already paid for a copy of the work (and the right to copy it for personal use), then downloading a digital copy doesn't seem to violate your original license. I don't know of any court case where someone who owns a copy of the music in some format -- cassette, record, CD -- has been prosecuted for downloading an MP3 version of the work.
There's not much else to say that wouldn't be better said by a fully-qualified copyright attorney, so I'll leave it at that.
_Chas_
FL-MUG: central Florida's Macintosh User Group. Meetings: second Thursday of the month, 6-9pm, at the Orlando Science Center. http://www.flmug.org
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