copying CDs? - illegal?

[kawahime]

Thanks to you guys and a friend of mine, I've completely stopped downloading music, anime, and music. To be honest, it was really hard, since most of my anime-loving friends either download anime, or buy their CDs from those stores that burn Japanese CDs.
Anyway, I have another question: There is a lady at my church that is poor, and she has trouble reading the bible because of her bad eyes. I'm pretty well off with about 4 personal bibles for myself, and 4 for my mom as well. We have these audio bible CDs that my mom received last Christmas and I have been ripping the CDs onto my harddrive and then burning them onto CDs for this lady to listen to. I have also given my discman and headphones to her because she doesn't even have a stereo. Only starting from this week, I have thought about this seriously: Is it illegal? I have a feeling that it is, but I really need the advice.

Thanks!!

Diana

[Mithrandir]

It sure looks liike this is illegal, actually. You have a license for one (1) copy to be used, and this looks like it's violating it. Unless this company has very lenient standards, it would appear that you are in violation of this license. If I were you, I'd look over the CDs carefully to see if there is any copyright information on it. Options:
1. buy the lady "Bible on CD" for herself.
2. Loan the lady your copy of the CDs. If you don't have a copy at the same time she does, it's not in violation. You are temporarily transfering your license agreement to her.

I'm not sure how legal it would be and INAL, but here's another idea. You are allowed (in the US) to make a backup of your CDs for your OWN use. If you were to make yourself a backup copy, and then loan that to her, then as long as YOU DO NOT USE THE ORIGINAL CDs, you would probably not be in violation.

[Gypsy]

Yeah, what the geezer said.

I think what you're doing for this lady is awesome. Although it's sort of a Robin Hood situation, I really would encourage you to take certain steps to make it legal.

[Destroyer2000]

Ah...then downloading anime music and such is illegal? And so is burning CDs? The ones I want to burn have been randomly made by myself from dled songs. This friend of my had an agreement that I'd burn her my 3 cds, and she'd give me her JPOP cd for me to burn.

[Mithrandir]

Yes. This is illegal. If caught, you can face rather stiff penulties on both criminal and civil grounds. If you are making a BACKUP of a CD you OWN the rights to (ie, you purchased them) then it's OK. Otherwise it's not. If you PAY for the songs you download (for example, you purchased them from the iTunes store) then it's also OK to burn them to CDs.

[cbwing0]

Luckily no one is going to prosecute you for doing this (unless you start selling them or something like that). It is technically illegal, but I think that, at least in your case, the reason for making the copy is noble.

[Mithrandir]

Luckily no one is going to prosecute you for doing this (unless you start selling them or something like that). It is technically illegal, but I think that, at least in your case, the reason for making the copy is noble.

Official Notice: It would be inadvisable to discuss Situational Ethics on this board. The question proposed was not about morallity - but legality.

While it is unlikely that this person will be prosecuted, it IS possible. And the question is whether it's illegal or not - not whether it is morialy justifialbe. Yes, there is quite possibly a Robin Hood delima, but it would appear the request was meant to be more a question of general integrity.

Case in point: It used to be accepted that no one was going to prosecute you for being a part of a filesharing network. When the RIAA started cracking down on people it became more obvious that (whether you agree with the RIAA's practices or not) it's legally stealing. A certain individual's stance on this was not, in fact, subject to debate. The law is the law.

Again, keep to the topic, SE (situational ethics) discussions are grounds for thread termination.

[cbwing0]

I apologize.

[Retten]

Yeah I agree with what oldphil said make some backups and let her listen to those unfortunately you cant use yours then.
Quick note maybe we should make a thread on the legalities of fansubing, cd burning, and roms since this topic seams to come up allot and any question that you have on those subjects could all be posted their.

[kawahime]

Hey guys!!

I thank you all for your help, but I'm still not sure about one thing.

Oldphilosopher - I'm curious about what you mentioned about this "backup cd" issue. Me and my mom don't really listen to the CDs anymore, so how would I check if this rule is in effect with my purchase? By the way, I'm in Canada.

Diana

[Mithrandir]

cbwing0: Don't worry. I wasn't actually trying to "make an example" of you. Sorry if it came out that way I was just making sure the discussion didn't head that direction.

Hmm. That's a tough one. I'm not really well versed in Canadian law. We DO have some mooses on the board, perhaps one of them knows more. So here's the question... Are Backups of Legaly Owned copies of a work legal in Canada? I know they aren't legal in Austrailia (random triva I happen to know).

As for a legality FAQ/Thread, we do have a FAQ section that references this, but it's vague. I think it's that way on purpose. We don't really want to tell people what's legal in that way, because the laws are always changing. Here in the general forums, there is a time stamp. It's to be expected that these things are "time/day sensite." There are quite a few of the CAA members who comb through various articles and glean what we can about the legality of things, and we try to bring these to the board. I agree that the idea is a good one, though - and it could be a great resource...

[Destroyer2000]

Ah...I used WinMX, and paid like 99 cents a month for it. The songs came from someone elses computer - file sharing, put simply. I don't believe that applies in the legally owned things, right?

Also, even if you owned the CD and burned other copies of it, wouldn't distributing them, either freely or by selling them, be illegal?

[Mithrandir]

... even if you owned the CD and burned other copies of it, wouldn't distributing them, either freely or by selling them, be illegal?

Well here's where the trouble comes in.
1. You are allowed to loan your copy of a CD to someone else for them to listen too, right?
2. You are allowed to burn backups for your own personal use, right? Usually, I do this to avoid ruining the original if my CD drive breaks. I don't want it to get scratched beyond recogintion. Also, what happens if someone steals your CD carrying case? If you only take the backups with you, sure, it's a hassle to re-burn your CDs, but you have a copy somewhere else!

So, what I would do is burn a copy, and keep the original tucked away in the attic. Now then, if I load the burned copy to someone else, and I'm not using the orignial, is it illegal? I would tend to say no, that's not. But, as I stated before INAL.

(For those of you who don't know what that means, it means: I am Not A Laywer.)

[The Silence]

What about mix cds that have songs from all different cds...? I often make them as presents for people....

[kawahime]

I finally told my mom that I'm not going to burn the CDs anymore for her and she just gave me an amused look and said, "Oh, you're such a good Christian!". *shrugs* I guess some people have a little trouble understanding my abstinence from such a main-stream thing... "But, like, EVERYONE copies CDs to their friends!"
Diana

[Fsiphskilm]

I use to download

[Twilly Spree]

Augh Destroyer! So very illegal! You can't just get stuff off other's computers. I believe iTunes and Napster are the only legal downloading services out there right now.

Silence, yes that is technically illegal too. You could get into the fact that you're using less than 10% of the copyrighted material arguement. But it's illegal.

I'm well versed in IP law, feel free to ask questions. I'm not going to say I don't burn Cd's and make mix Cd's (my insomniac hobby) but it's illegal. Do it it moderation of you're going to folks. Or make the effort to go out and buy the Cd like Volt (I do that too by the way).

[Technomancer]

Hey guys!!

I thank you all for your help, but I'm still not sure about one thing.

Oldphilosopher - I'm curious about what you mentioned about this "backup cd" issue. Me and my mom don't really listen to the CDs anymore, so how would I check if this rule is in effect with my purchase? By the way, I'm in Canada.

Diana

wrt. to Canadian law it is legal to make a single back up copy of legally purchased material, provided the backup is destroyed if the original is later sold.

[Mithrandir]

What about mix cds that have songs from all different cds...? I often make them as presents for people....

That depends on if they have license rights to the music. Unless you have muoltiple LEGAL coppies of the music - or your friend has a legal copy of each song - you can't do this legally either.

wrt. to Canadian law it is legal to make a single back up copy of legally purchased material, provided the backup is destroyed if the original is later sold.

Doomo, technomancer san! That pretty much makes it the same, then - for the original question.

If you can tape songs off of the radio and use them instead of buying the CD it's the same as downloading them and not buying the CD.

No. It's NOT the same. At least according to US legal system. The differences are multiple:
1. There is a quality issue.
2. You can't get ANY song - whenever you want it - on the radio.
3. You can only get ONE song at a time on the radio without special hardware.
4. Tapes are lossy technology (see number one).

As for your "Volt's Chart" section, you are rationalizing something for your own use - and there is NO LEGAL backup for what you posted. That might work for you, but I would STRONGLY discourage anyone else from taking this as a legal rationalization/solution to the issue.

[Fsiphskilm]

[quote="Red Ninja"]Or make the