Not a day goes by in our Music Download, Peer to Peer (P2P) & Legal Issues Forum without us seeing questions that pertain to the so-called "Fair use" laws. This is nothing to be ashamed about to ask, as technology and the way we use our content changes very quickly. However, the legal systems wheels grind slowly as we say, so there is some broad interpretations of the laws being put forth in frustration on both sides. For this reason, we often find ourselves in the 'grey zone' when dealing with a copyrighted item. Bear in mind that these laws are different wherever you live, but in this very handy article posted over at the Monterey County Herald, we can get some bonified legal opinions that apply in the United States.
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Practically speaking, few will know if you do it, provided you do not publicly boast about it. But under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, it is illegal to break electronic locks such as the Windows Media format, a practice that is nonetheless alive and well in the tech sphere. "One of the things it did was enact a whole set of laws that had to do with access controls," Fall said. "Congress made it illegal to circumvent the controls." Von Lohmann notes, however, that there is a loophole with Microsoft's Windows Media: The actual audio output that goes through your computer's sound card when a Windows Media file is being played comes over in an unprotected format, and is therefore not covered under the digital copyright act. '¢ Scanning commercial photos. Can you scan your daughter's fifth-grade photo and e-mail it to Grandma, or print an extra copy on your photo-quality printer? Based on the taking-money-from-the-creator argument, no. But it could depend. "Photographers would take the position that the way they make money is by selling individual copies," Gundersen said. "Their profession has been premised on the idea that they control the ability to make extra copies." What if, for instance, the photographer also sold an electronic image file of your daughter but you decided to scan the print instead of buy it? "Any legal analysis would again be this balancing test: Is it for commercial purposes? Did the photographer not make available the option to put it in electronic form? It could be fair use," Gundersen said. "If you didn't buy the electronic file option if it was available, it probably wouldn't be fair use." '¢ "Ripping" a CD. Is it OK to record songs from a CD onto your computer for transfer to your portable digital player? "There are no clear rules," Von Lohmann said. But, he added, "We know the recording industry has said burning your own CDs for use on your iPod is legal. It took them years to say it. |
There are many more questions and answers provided in this important article and perhaps one that has beeen nagging you is addressed. If you live in the United States, then you can check out the rest of the story by following this link.
For those CD Freaks that live outside the US, you can always visit our sister site Euro-copyrights.org. Here, CD Freaks along with the help of many others, have taken the time to compile a comprehensive set of materials that will assist those living in the European Union member states about the European Copyrights Directive. This information has been collected and written by the University of Amsterdam and academics from all over Europe. Feel free to visit this thread as well in our Club CD Freaks Forums as well if you would like to address some issues in public. In addition, if you have expertise in these areas and wish to help add to the knowledge base at Euro-copyrights.org, then by all means, let someone there know.
Source: Monterey County Herald
