------------------ If my mind wasn't a total blank all the time, I'd have something creative written here. But it is. So sue me. [ www.linneberg.com ] | [ [email protected] ]
Posted by Chimaera on :
Wasn't there a court challenge against this sort of player by the record companies? After all, 99.999% of the music that would be played on these things would be illegal, as in a violation of copyright. Not that I'm complaining personally, after all the music industry has been gouging people long enough, perhaps this will make them straighten up a bit. Then again, probably not.
------------------ "But, it was so artistically done." -Grand Admiral Thrawn
Posted by Aethelwer (Member # 36) on :
If I were me, and I am believed to be, I would just burn MP3s to CDs.
there was a court challenge, the Music companies lost the first round and backed off, for now.
------------------ "Think of all the delightful aspects of the reproductive process: menstruation, pregnancy, labor. And the part we're trying to eliminate is sex?" Cecil Adams the guy who does Straight Dope.
*plays illegal music on his Diamond Rio* What of it? How many of you all listen to illegal mp3 music? Be honest!
This is no different than, say, copying the music onto a tape, recordable CD-Rom, or MiniDisc, or whatever....
------------------ If my mind wasn't a total blank all the time, I'd have something creative written here. But it is. So sue me. [ www.linneberg.com ] | [ [email protected] ]
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
Of course, those are all illegal, too... :-)
------------------ "Alright, so it's impossible. How long will it take?" -Commander Adams, Forbidden Planet
Posted by Baloo (Member # 5) on :
Actually, they're not illegal (at least, according to U.S. law). You are entitled to make as many copies as you want for your own personal use. Making copies for sale at the local swap meet, however, now THAT is illegal!
--Baloo
------------------ It is less important that you agree with me than it is for you to to understand what I'm saying.
[This message has been edited by Baloo (edited November 19, 1999).]
Posted by Lt. Tom on :
From what I've been reading, the RIAA has gone on another rampage that will stop the moment someone actually hauls 'em into court. They're threatening servers (mainly universities, I believe) with legal action unless they -delete ALL MP3s (It's perfectly legal for me to rip my CD collection to MP3 and stick it on a web server--your own damn fault for downloading it.) -provide contact info for any user who was storing MP3s on the server -provide IP addresses for anyone who downloaded MP3s (yeah, that's gonna help)
I wrote this post while listening to Winamp play a song I downloaded using a nifty program called Napster. Anyone care to lay odds that I have the CD?
Posted by Baloo (Member # 5) on :
Blank media costs more than it might because an additional fee is added to the price. This fee is distributed to the music industry.
Why? Well, you might copy some of their copyrighted material onto it and sell it (illegal in any case). It's as if the publishing industry required paper manufacturers to pay them for every sheet of paper they sold, just in case you copied something onto their product that they held the copyright on.
--Baloo
------------------ It is less important that you agree with me than it is for you to to understand what I'm saying.
Allow me to elaborate on my previous comment: It's illegal to make copies of music you don't otherwise own legally. Which is what the majority of MP3s that people have are. Er... Not that I would know, of course... Er... Ah... *runs away*
------------------ "General Hammond: Request permission to beat the crap out of this man." -Colonel O'Neill, Stargate: SG-1: "Bane"
Posted by Baloo (Member # 5) on :
It is NOT, however, illegal to make a copy of something you do have and give it to a friend. The law gets hazy once it proceeds past that point. MP3 proponents argue that as long as no money changes hands, it constitutes fair use, while the producers of copyrighted material want it so you must pay them to make copies, even for fair use. Of course, if they could figure a legal way to do it, they'd like to just garnish our wages and not have to wory about whether we ever received any product.
My opinion? People were making fairly decent music by themselves and with friends before recording technology appeared. If the recording industry suddenly stopped producing Weird Al's products, I'm certain I could help a good lyricist compose something that was unique and good to listen to.
We'd all start making our own music (or doing without). I don't think that's a bad idea.
--Baloo
------------------ It is less important that you agree with me than it is for you to to understand what I'm saying.