Comments on: Pirating Music, Saving Money

By: LittleDebater

LittleDebater — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 23:22:38 +0000

Hey everyone, im doing this debate, kind of, its should we leagalise pirated music. so sort of still on this topic.
im affermative, so let me tell you this,
why not share music or downlode it???
its advertising the band, the money tobuy c-d’s are way too high, and i mean we’ve changed laws before for our benifit, why not this???
please talk back, you can agree or disagree, there is no wrong answer! you can be as brutal as you like!!

By: Flatlinebb

Flatlinebb — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 00:05:36 +0000

I wholeheartedly agree with you Justin on one thing: Copyright Law needs to be rewritten for the Digital Age. What scares me is the thought that it will become much more restrictive, just because the technology makes it so easy to disseminate digial content.

One hope is that fact that all the iPod-users and torrent-downloaders will grow up soon and take their place in making legislature, fully aware of the oppressive regime they matured under.

By: Justin

Justin — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 00:00:41 +0000

Unfortunately, in this climate, I’m sure the RIAA has something to say about backing up files ;) Yea, you should be able to get your music back, but even though they consider it a license, it’s not? Not exactly cut and dry. That’s why I hate the RIAA.

Common sense says that it would be legal to loan an original CD out, therefore depriving you of the right to listen to the CD. That would be cut and dry, like your lending the book out, and that copying a book is much like copying a CD. Unfortunately, beyond the original debate that it doesn’t make it fair use, I’m not sure of the actual word of the law past that. Mixed CDs are technically not legal either, but I don’t think anyone is going to be prosecuted for them.

I for one believe that copyright law should be re-written for the digital age. And the DCMA doesn’t count. That’s something I hope nobody will argue about.

By: Flatlinebb

Flatlinebb — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 23:53:20 +0000

I do not want to start an argument, but I do want to take another spin on this issue: What if I lend my friend a CD, be it original or mixed tracks? Is it like lending out a book? What if I make archives of all my CD’s (since no one will replace them for me if they get damaged, despite the music industry claiming you are just licensing the music, thus you should be entitled to a free replacement) and only use copies for listening and I lend my friend a copy, but I tell him to just throw away the copy when he is done listening to it?

By: Justin

Justin — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 23:42:33 +0000

Yes, you can. But, photocopying the book and giving your friend the copy is not. That is what this article is about. Fair Use is not making an exact copy (even easier with digital files than books or with recorded radio or soap operas) and giving it away. You can sell your original CD or book, but not make a copy for them to keep while you keep your copy. So no, you can not make a copy of a CD for a friend, even a “mix” CD with tracks by different artists. It’s not legal.

By: Flatlinebb

Flatlinebb — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 23:39:00 +0000

I disagree. What the article describes is Fair Use. That’s right – it is just like sharing Mix Tapes back in the day. Like taping your favorite Soap Opera on your VCR. Maybe if people know more about their rights, we could come out of our paranoia a little. Are you telling me I cannot lend a book to a friend from work, b/c the text is copyrighted?

By: Poppy

Poppy — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 21:48:13 +0000

How severely irresponsible.

By: Kiltak

Kiltak — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 20:40:15 +0000

ROFL.

By: Justin

Justin — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 20:36:59 +0000

So all your friends with a Zune means you’ll have a large music library /sarcasm ;)

By: Jeffery Williams

Jeffery Williams — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 20:19:41 +0000

I don’t mind this type of trading. This is a little like the good old days of mix-tapes. You know the person you got the songs from. If you like a song, you are more likely to follow the artist and grab other albums from the artist.

The Zune even has this as a built in feature.

By: funkadelica

funkadelica — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 20:00:40 +0000

I read that article. I was appalled.

For the record, Cosmo also condones snooping in your boyfriend’s medicine cabinet, wallet, phone, etc. Nice.