UK music fans can copy own tracks

[ctid]

UK music fans no longer face the threat of prosecution for copying their own CDs on to PCs or MP3 players, as long as the songs are only for personal use.

Peter Jamieson, chairman of the British Phonographic Industry, said consumers would only be penalised if they made duplicates of songs for other people.

Currently anyone transferring music to portable devices breaks copyright laws.

The music industry has traditionally turned a blind eye, however, in favour of targeting "professional" pirates.

"We believe that we now need to make a clear and public distinction between copying for your own use and copying for dissemination to third parties," said Mr Jamieson, whose organisation represents the UK's record labels.

He told the Commons select committee for culture, media and sport that he wanted to "make it unequivocally clear to the consumer that if they copy their CDs for their own private use in order to move the music from format to format, we will not pursue them".

Domination 'not healthy'

Mr Jamieson also called for Apple - which makes the popular iPod portable music player - to open up its iTunes software so it is compatible with the technology of other manufacturers.

Apple applies a digital protection system to its downloads, which means they are not usually compatible with other companies' devices.

He said iTunes' dominant market share in downloads was "not particularly healthy" and said he "would advocate that Apple opts for interoperability".

Consumers in the UK pay 79p per track on iTunes and - generally - £7.90 for a full album, although this can vary according to the number of songs and the status of the artiste in question.

In February, music industry investigators claimed someone in almost every street in every town in the UK was illegally copying music and film.

The Federation Against Copyright Theft and British Phonographic Industry said home counterfeiters now accounted for the majority of their investigations.

Via BBC - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5053658.stm

[TiMeZeRo]

finally bout time they made it legal to put songs on mp3 players lol

[Areku]

YESSS!!! I can finally upgrade my sony cassette walkman! Oh what a glorius day it is

[Funkstar]

comonsense wins for bloody once!!

[htid]

Originally Posted by Areku

YESSS!!! I can finally upgrade my sony cassette walkman! Oh what a glorius day it is

Haha

Agreed though, thats great news, i always wondered how they could get away with that.

[unreal]

Wtf, I didn't know that was Illegal LOL

Currently anyone transferring music to portable devices breaks copyright laws.

Whoa I'm dumb, but then so was the law :/

[Mike Fishcake]

It's nice to know that not all of the music industry is like the RIAA.

Top marks!

[Steve]

Publicity stunt.

They were never going to go after anyone doing it for personal use anyway. So in reality, the change to the law makes little difference.

They're probably just trying to get on our good side before they come at us with something nasty.

[directhex]

technically, it's still illegal - just that the BPI won't prosecute you for it. that leaves non-BPI record labels, who can sue if they want

[Mike Fishcake]

Or... Peter Jamieson has just bought an iPod

[dangel]

Originally Posted by directhex

technically, it's still illegal - just that the BPI won't prosecute you for it. that leaves non-BPI record labels, who can sue if they want

Ah but the _BPI_ said so - and as we all know the BPI make law in this country.

/sarcasm off


Yes it's silly - good publicity stunt but unless the law is changed the BPI can (at a whim) sue you anyway..

[Tomahawk]

Originally Posted by dangel

Ah but the _BPI_ said so - and as we all know the BPI make law in this country.

/sarcasm off


Yes it's silly - good publicity stunt but unless the law is changed the BPI can (at a whim) sue you anyway..

EDIT:: Thanks directhex, thats cleared some thoughts up. And I suppose as they represent the Music Industry/Record labels, they have now given 'permission' to the home-user to indeed make a copy for personal use.

But still how many people were already doing this regularly, I'd say the majority of the population... and nearly everyone that owns some kind of portable music device! Suppose it's good to be cleared up for some people.

[directhex]

Originally Posted by dangel

Ah but the _BPI_ said so - and as we all know the BPI make law in this country.

/sarcasm off


Yes it's silly - good publicity stunt but unless the law is changed the BPI can (at a whim) sue you anyway..

actually, under Estoppel, they can't. see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estoppel_(English_law)

[nichomach]

Hmmm...actually, they could change their mind; the form of estoppel that could be held to apply would be promissory estoppel. It doesn't extinguish the BPI's right to change their mind at a later date. It would probably shield those who copied their music up until that later date, but would not be a shield for copying thereafter if the BPI publicly stated that it had changed its policy.