Copyright Law, the interpretation of Options

[sadolakced acid]

Alright, let's keep this a debate, not just stating opinions. that's important.
don't just state your opinion, support it

alright. here's some background

Copyright law prohibits the copying of Digital audio for commercial use. Copying of audio for personal use is allowed, but only first generation copies may be made (copies of the original) second generation copies are illegal (copies of copies). however, computers allow this, and thus the RIAA has said that using your computer to copy digital audio, no matter first or second gen. copies, is illegal. this was ruled as incorrect and not what the law says by a court.

First off, the obvious, is whether or not ripping your CDs to MP3s is illegal

also, is downloading music from online illegal? (copyright law only mentions distributing, not taking)

and, do new CDs that prevent ripping to MP3s, and DRM (digital rights management) WMAs violate the user right to copy?

[starlette]

Technically, you do have the right to copy songs from a cd you purchased into any medium you choose. For example, if you dont have a cd player because you live in the dark ages, so you take it to a friends house and record the cd to a tape so you can enjoy it in the car or something ( I know because I've done this lol) then thats fine. You just cannot share it with anyone. You can play it in their presence but you cannot make a copy for someone else. It must be for you own personal use. You also can't play it publicly, or take it to a club and sing to it. For public play of copyrighted music, you have to get permission from like ASCAP of BMI, so that they can monitor the play, get the money from it, and pay royalties to the proper people. This is why file sharing is illegal. Because when you pay for that cd, or record or whatever, you are basically consenting to using it strictly for you own personal use. Just like the FBI warning at the beggining of movies. By you purchasing that medium, you have the right to listen to it, and make as many copies of it as you want, as long as it is for personal use. If you give it to someone else, thats 15.00 that walmart should be making off the cd, in which goes up to the artists and the record companies. Think of each sale as an individual person. If you give the cd to 10 people, thats ten potential sales they could have made. Same with selling the cds. Unless you are a licenced seller, if you make money off of that cd, you are breaking the law. Because it isnt your money to make. I study copyright law because I am a singer, and I do not condone illegal downloading. The only downloading I did, was when my cds were stolen out of my car, I went through and downloaded songs that I hadn't put on my computer, but nothing else. So yeah.