Posted on 01/06/2004 9:55:18 AM PST by demlosers
Major record labels are being sued by a European consumer group over copy-protected CDs that fans say are faulty. Belgium-based Test-Achats says new technology that stops CD copying also stops fans playing them on some devices and making legitimate back-up copies.
The group wants EMI, Universal, Sony and BMG to stop releasing copy-protected CDs and to reimburse fans.
But the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), a trade group, said the suit was baseless.
The copy protection technology was introduced two years ago by record companies who faced a sales slump and wanted to stop pirated CDs reaching the black market.
The music industry has been
cracking down on CD copying
A CD by Shakira was among those affected, Test-Achats said It usually works by placing a layer of data on a CD that only enables playback on a home stereo or portable hi-fi device.
But Test-Achats, known as Test-Aankoop in Dutch, said it had received 200 complaints from fans who were angry at the fact that they could not listen to the discs on some CD players.
Big-selling releases including Shakira's Laundry Service and Radiohead's Hail to the Thief were affected, they said.
Test-Achats spokesman Mechels Ivo said: "We are trying to establish legal precedent in this matter. Then we expect other consumer organisations will follow."
'Protect'
But an IFPI statement said: "European law is clear that record companies and other copyright holders have the right to protect their works through technical means."
Industry observers say the lawsuit is the biggest European legal challenge yet to the music industry's practice of releasing copy-protected discs, according to the Reuters news agency.
The lawsuit is expected to be heard in a Belgium court this week.
Warner Music is the only one of the five major music labels not named.
If a compact disk drive is capable of playing all ISO-9660 standard CDs, then it is performing as advertised.
If a "compact disk" that fails to comply with the ISO-9660 standard (actually, even to advertise such a disk by that name in a trademark infringement) fails to play in an ISO-9660 standard compact disk player, the liability for consumer fraud clearly rests with the producer and/or vendor of the former.
That is a de facto standard. Actually it is also a proprietary standard. Does the CD in question have the little CD logo of approval by the owner of the standard with the backwards D printed on it?
I think the future of music will involve buying the rights to music, but never actually having a hard copy of it. You'll be able to play any music or other content you've bought the rights to on any type of player anywhere you happen to be at any time. You won't own anything akin to a CD or DVD, though.
That's basically what I was arguing for, but it won't happen if the industry has anything to say about it. For those of us who date back to the 60s, it's very possible that we've had to purchase a record, an 8-track, a cassette, and a CD of the same album by this time. We've bought the rights as many as 4 times for our favorite Led Zeppelin I album. The industry is greedy and now they're getting their comeuppance with all the illicit copying.
-PJ
I'm with you Rockitz. I'm sick of purchasing products that have to be replaced over and over due to format changes and planned obsolescence
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