Posted on 02/13/2006 11:02:23 AM PST by nickcarraway
If you sell your iPod and don't remove your music first, you could find yourself with the Recording Industry Ass. of America (RIAA) breathing down your back. The organisation last week told sellers in the US that doing so is a clear violation of copyright law and warned them that it's sniffing out for infringers.
Apple's rapid iPod refresh schedule, not to mention those of its competitors, have generated a tide of old music player offers in classified ads columns and on sites like eBay. Rather too many sellers are shipping their old machines with music libraries intact - some we've seen even make a virtue of the fact.
But it's illegal, not only in the US but also in the UK and the rest of Europe. As, incidentally, is ripping all your CDs and LPs to MP3 then selling or even giving away the originals. By disposing of your physical media, you're ending your right to use the music they contain. The RIAA's point, made in an MTV online report (http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1524099/20060209/story.jhtml) is that handing over music on a music player is no different from duplicating a CD and selling the copy.
The only way around the problem is to either erase the iPod, or make sure it ships with only copies of the music - downloads if that's how they were obtained, or the original physical media. And don't keep copies yourself.
When they reimburse me for their collusion to keep the prices of CD's artificially high for 20 years... then I'll think about it... the RIAA brings NOTHING to society, and needs to be flushed down the toilet of history. Artists don't need them anymore... and that's the real truth that the digital age is making clear..... and it scares them to death.
through the serial number. their campaign contributions, to both parties, have essentially given the RIAA quasi government powers to go after citizens.
When you buy a CD or purchase an MP3 download, you are not buying the actual music - you are licensing the private use rights of a copyrighted work. If you truly want to buy the music itself, you have to buy the copyright catalog. Then you can do whatever you want with it.
nope. when you sell your CD to someone, you are selling what is (presumably) your only copy of it, and the right to use it passes to the buyer. when you sell an IPOD, your songs are still stored in ITunes and can be loaded onto your new Ipod - so you have essentially sold a copy of those songs to someone on your old Ipod.
"It's stuff like this that will force a complete re-think of intellectual property rights. You can't set up an infinite series of hoops and then expect customers to jump through them all. When it is too hard to adhere to the law, people cease to try."
I'm with you 100% on that. I also really dislike the strategy of the record industry. Suing old ladies because a 12 year old grandkid downloaded the latest Backstreet Boys song isn't the way to win many friends. Threatening to sue people who sell their electronics is outrageous.
There was a scam a while back where computer manufacturers would buy one copy of Windows and install it on every machine they sold. People thought they were getting a legal copy of Windows, but they weren't. Some manufacturers were even loading up with Office, Photoshop, etc., so that the value of the pirated software was greater than that of the computer.
I don't like RIAA, but they've got a point, here.
Actually, yes. At least according to Sony, if you make digital copies from a CD you buy, and someone steals the CD, you're supposed to erase your digital copies. IOW, they're less concerned that a thief has a CD you bought and paid for than that there might be two copies of a single CD in the wild. A$$holes.
iPod |
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Send FReepmail if you want on/off iPing list WARNING: This is a high-volume Ping list. Turn your headphones down |
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The List of Ping Lists |
this is just the beginning. did you know that the MPAA is now pushing legislation to essentially outlaw privately owned DVRs? they want all Tivo/DVR technology to be leased by the consumer from the cable provider - who will control the content management of the programs you dare to record to your DVR.
Attention:
You have been added to our database of serious copyright law violators. One of our associate attorneys will contact you soon with instructions on where to send your extor... er... settlement if you wish to avoid costly litigation.
Sincerely,
RIAA customer service
;-)
Better yet, don't buy an iPOD. If 1 Gig is enough, but an RCA Lyra. Their 1 Gig version is around $125 and comes with a FM transmitter for the car. Also, you don't need to mess with iTunes just to put music on it. It works just like a flash drive....plug-n-play.
Since when does the RIAA presume to dictate about the general public about the use of their private property?
>>>Wonder if the same applies to selling a video tape I recorded an HBO movie on and then sell it in a garage sale?<<<
From a pure, legal/technical sense, yes. But it's unlikely the MPAA is going to come after you if you do - unless you have a perpetual garage sale going on, and all you have to sell are recorded movies.
Actually, a lot of people are apparently doing this on auction sites. Some of the new ipods and new MP3 players can hold HUGE collections of music (like on the order of 5-10K worth of music as estimated by the retail cost of buying all the CD's individually or in collections).
So someone who doesn't respect copyright can sell their whole music collection over and over again (because they are selling the ipod for MORE than you would buy it brand new), and it's essentially disguised as selling a new ipod as opposed to selling "pirated music" which is obviously illegal.
See, Apple hasn't thought this out well, either.
Let us all hope so.
I'm all for recording artists making the money that they deserve, but the arrogance of the RIAA is just too much to take at times.
Looks like what those people need is a good sharp stick!
>>>Since when does the RIAA presume to dictate about the general public about the use of their private property?<<<
The only personal property you have when you buy a music CD is the media itself. When you buy a CD, you are buying the media, and renting permission to use the contents.
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