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?

[EriaNight]

My mom has been working in the film and music industry (she owns a studio in Nashville) for 30 years and here is what I have learned...

The Lessons:

1) Downloading music from online is not always illegal; it depends on the type of music and what kind of licenses are given to the person that downloads the music; for example, if you are on a free mp3 site and it has local bands that say you can download their music for free than it is not illegal, but say you find a random website that has "1 2 step" by Ciara and you can download it for free--> It probably is not legal.

2) Karamelle is very very right: If you are going to use the music in films, on websites, or play it on the radio, you need special licenses from ASCAP and BMI because most of their songs are under protection. A.K.A. if you use a song on your Xanga or personal site (like again "1 2 Step" ) it is probably not legal. But I doubt anybody actually cares. The RIAA does not have the time to check everybody's xanga for usage of unlicensed copyrighted songs.

3) I think it's very wrong for people to file share copyrighted songs anyway because I feel hurt personally...my mother works so hard on making her work perfect and then getting paid by the hour. I'll find out later that some of the songs she worked on are being illegally downloaded and copied by my friends and it just really upsets me sometimes.

Edit:// Did you take the time to realize that by taking unlicensed distributed music from online is illegal because you are taking distributed (not licensed to be distributed) music? [did that make sense..] Yeah...it Is (this was in response to "also, is downloading music from online illegal? (copyright law only mentions distributing, not taking)"...if you read all the rules on copyright, which I've read most of because I've had to deal with it all the time for my films, it does have many specifics and it's a whole lot longer than the paragraph you just wrote. If anyone wants me to provide a link so that they are better able to debate this topic just PM me or reply in this thread. I'll give you one.