AfterDawn: News

UK IP Minister thinks CD ripping should be legal

Though the record labels would have a heart attack if anyone sanctioned the ripping of music files from a compact disc to your hard drive, it appears the the Intellectual Property Minister, Lord Triesman in the UK feels that the laws against ripping the contents of your legally purchased CD should be changed. He bases his thoughts on the need for the industry to keep up with the times.

Lord Triesman submitted a formal proposal for dissolution of the laws which were welcomed with caution by music industry bodies. The proposal is open for review until April 8th of this year. These changes would apply only to those copying CDs for personal use and not with any form or intent to distribute. Additionally, the proposal has stated that the owner of the CD is not to be permitted to sell or give away the original once the copy has been made. The proposal warns, "To allow consumers to copy works and then pass on the original could result in a loss of sales."



BPI, one of the recording companies, stated that it supports the proposal and what it stands for, but urges caution in the interest of allowing too many freedoms that could further hurt sales. Another group, The Association of Independent Music thinks the proposal is not robust enough and is paving the way for CDs to become obsolete within the next decade. They stated that once the CD has been made obsolete, you will then open the floodgates of rampant piracy and file sharing.

Lord Triesman said the proposed changes would explore "where the boundaries lie between strong protection for right holders and appropriate levels of access for users".

Source:
BBC

Written by: Dave Horvath @ 8 Jan 2008 15:46

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• 8 comments

• badkrma

  "Lord Triesman said the proposed changes would explore "where the boundaries lie between strong protection for right holders and appropriate levels of access for users"."
  
  It makes me happy to see there is still some people of authority (regardless how powerful or influential) that remember it isn't always a crime to use products the way we see fit after we purchased them. If the company that makes the product is so rigid on how exactly we are allowed to use said product, then maybe they should not be in the consumer industry at all. I could list some examples of products used a little differently than what the company made them for, but all of us has examples and the list would be huge.

  8.1.2008 16:23 #1

• hughjars

  Some sense seems to be dawning at last, if a little late in the day (and with some glaring points still to be addressed).
  
  Quote:Becky Hogge, executive director of the The Open Rights Group, said that she was dismayed that it had taken the Government so long to act on the Gowers Review, adding that she is concerned about the detail of some of the proposals.
  
  "In particular, it looks like any exception for format shifting will not give you the right to circumvent DRM," she said.
  
  "This could lead to industry deciding that, if you want to buy a song that you can format shift (i.e. no DRM) you need to pay a little bit extra for it, which will bring in copyright levies - something Gowers explicitly counselled against - through the backdoor."
  http://www.computerbuyer.co.uk/
  
  Lord Triesman's recommendations are available on the UK IPO website, in the Copyright Exceptions consultation document.
  http://www.ipo.gov.uk/about/about-consul...texceptions.htm

  8.1.2008 18:12 #2

• lecsiy

  What i want to know is whether the cd riping law has actually stopped anyone?
  
  Hounestly, its the most pointless law. Besides it could never be effectively enforced. So whys it there?

  8.1.2008 18:37 #3

• emugamer

  Originally posted by lecsiy: What i want to know is whether the cd riping law has actually stopped anyone?
  
  Hounestly, its the most pointless law. Besides it could never be effectively enforced. So whys it there?It could probably be enforced if there were some other reason to pin charges on you. If an officer is in a bad mood, he or she could grab the burned CD in your car as an excuse to bring you in or fine you whatever exorbitant fine they pulled out their arse. Stupid stuff like that. I highly doubt there will be a CD enforcing task force roaming the streets and knocking on your door.

  8.1.2008 19:10 #4

• snowlock

  Quote:Another group, The Association of Independent Music thinks the proposal is not robust enough and is paving the way for CDs to become obsolete within the next decade. They stated that once the CD has been made obsolete, you will then open the floodgates of rampant piracy and file sharing.My two(2) cents:
  cent 1; cd's need to be "obsolete within the next decade," it's past time for a new fomat(s) to take over
  cent2; similar groups probably said the same things when the cassette tape started eclipsing the vinyl record
  
  $0.02=there will never exist a be-all-end-all format, and even if there will be it obviously isn't cd's

  8.1.2008 19:27 #5

• o0cynix0o

  Originally posted by lecsiy: What i want to know is whether the CD riping law has actually stopped anyone?
  
  Honestly, its the most pointless law. Besides it could never be effectively enforced. So whys it there?To show that someone is trying to do something about the problem. It's kinda like a jay-walking ticket. It's on the books but no one gets one.

  8.1.2008 20:03 #6

• Spenman91

  Apparently I missed something pretty bad. I had no idea it was illegal to rip cds. No, I'm not joking. What happened to ripping cds and putting them on your iPod? When was this law written?

  9.1.2008 18:30 #7

• borhan9

  Quote:Lord Triesman said the proposed changes would explore "where the boundaries lie between strong protection for right holders and appropriate levels of access for users".This is what they need to do. I like this guy using rational and logical thought in regards to being able to rip their own legally purchased music.

  9.1.2008 21:52 #8