UK Consumer Watchdog says citizens are unaware of copyright rules

UK Consumer Watchdog says citizens are unaware of copyright rules
Consumer Focus, a consumer watchdog that operates in the United Kingdom, has called for the region's copyright laws to be adjusted after research showed most consumers are unaware of copyright law. Millions of people are totally unaware that they regularly break the law in the UK, according to Consumer Focus. Their great crimes? Ripping and format shifting.

Consumers regularly rip CDs to computers as MP3 or other digital file formats for convenience, a practice which could very well be illegal depending on the circumstances. The same user would then break the law again by transferring those files to a portable media player device; a practice known as format shifting (technically, just ripping to a computer is format shifting, but the CD -> MP3 player example is usually given).



Some rights holders believe format shifting should be illegal, and that consumers should have to pay again to consume the same content on a different format. In a poll of 2,026 people, 73 percent were totally unaware of what they could legally copy or record. Jill Johnstone, of Consumer Focus, said that the law does not take the advance of technology over the past decade into account and needs to be changed.

"The world has moved on and reform of copyright law is inevitable, but it is not going to update itself," she said. Of course, consumers are not being prosecuted generally for ripping CDs or putting music from a CD on an iPod, clearly, but its the implication that people are breaking the law by doing so that is bad enough on its own.

IT lawyer Nick Lockett, of DL Legal, said that law enforcement only has the will and allocated resources to tackle commercial operations, not personal use. He pointed out that the practice of recording content from television using a video recorder only became legal through a copyright law amendment some time after recorders were on the market, and recording was a common practice.

Written by: James Delahunty @ 24 Feb 2010 4:58
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  • 11 comments
  • av_verbal

    Quote:Some rights holders believe format shifting should be illegalwe all know who.

    Quote:Sony BMG's chief anti-piracy lawyer: "Copying" music you own is "stealing"

    Gabriel asked if it was wrong for consumers to make copies of music which they have purchased, even just one copy. Pariser replied, "When an individual makes a copy of a song for himself, I suppose we can say he stole a song." Making "a copy" of a purchased song is just "a nice way of saying 'steals just one copy'," she said.

    24.2.2010 05:35 #1

  • scum101

    We are not "unaware" of copyright law.. we CHOOSE to ignore it because it infringes on our property ownership rights. I buy something I own it.. simple as.. and NO YANK CARTEL OF GANGSTERS is going to tell me otherwise.. not that I buy any of their crap rpoducts in the first place.. but if I did it is mine to do with as i choose and not for them to tell me what I can and can't do with it..

    I buy music, I have the right to listen to it.. in ANY format that can be accessed by my ears or it is technically possible for me to shift it to.. because (and this is what these numbnuts don't understand at all) I have bought a license to listen to the music.. format neutral. and now they want to try to strip that basic form of ownership away too..

    seig heil asshats!!.. I will NEVER buy any music or any films ever again.. ever.. I will burn and copy and give to my friends until morons like you are gone forever.

    Quote:Gabriel asked if it was wrong for consumers to make copies of music which they have purchased, even just one copy. Pariser replied, "When an individual makes a copy of a song for himself, I suppose we can say he stole a song." Making "a copy" of a purchased song is just "a nice way of saying 'steals just one copy'," she said.you know what happens when you call ALL your customers thieves and criminals?.. they stop buying.. and rightly so.. if we are all criminals now why give these shysters any more money? Sheesh.. even paying for the crap isn't good enough for these bastards.. they want blood too. They aren't going to be ahppy until we are all locked up in prison for failing to pay the billions in "damages" they demand for our "piracy" .. guess next we will see people getting busted for having their own cd's on a mp3 player.. you can already get busted for having the bloody radio on where a member of the public "might hear it"

    I give up.. the worlds has gone mad, and we have allowed it.. wheres my AK47.. better get yours out too.. we gonna need them soon people.

    24.2.2010 06:59 #2

  • Oner

    Originally posted by av_verbal: Quote:Some rights holders believe format shifting should be illegalwe all know who.

    Quote:Sony BMG's chief anti-piracy lawyer: "Copying" music you own is "stealing"

    Gabriel asked if it was wrong for consumers to make copies of music which they have purchased, even just one copy. Pariser replied, "When an individual makes a copy of a song for himself, I suppose we can say he stole a song." Making "a copy" of a purchased song is just "a nice way of saying 'steals just one copy'," she said.
    Cool story bro...I guess since Sony is the ONLY company who deals with media I guess all the blame is always on them right! /s

    24.2.2010 09:30 #3

  • karemeli

    It's the same as me buying groceries but I am not allowed to prepare, cook or consume them.

    24.2.2010 16:59 #4

  • wibbley

    I paid for the music I will convert it to what I want for what reason I want for my (own use) because I paid for it if you don't let me then I will turn to the pirate way (no hassel)

    24.2.2010 18:40 #5

  • blueboy09

    Originally posted by scum101: We are not "unaware" of copyright law.. we CHOOSE to ignore it because it infringes on our property ownership rights. I buy something I own it.. simple as.. and NO YANK CARTEL OF GANGSTERS is going to tell me otherwise.. not that I buy any of their crap rpoducts in the first place.. but if I did it is mine to do with as i choose and not for them to tell me what I can and can't do with it..

    I buy music, I have the right to listen to it.. in ANY format that can be accessed by my ears or it is technically possible for me to shift it to.. because (and this is what these numbnuts don't understand at all) I have bought a license to listen to the music.. format neutral. and now they want to try to strip that basic form of ownership away too..

    seig heil asshats!!.. I will NEVER buy any music or any films ever again.. ever.. I will burn and copy and give to my friends until morons like you are gone forever.

    Quote:Gabriel asked if it was wrong for consumers to make copies of music which they have purchased, even just one copy. Pariser replied, "When an individual makes a copy of a song for himself, I suppose we can say he stole a song." Making "a copy" of a purchased song is just "a nice way of saying 'steals just one copy'," she said. you know what happens when you call ALL your customers thieves and criminals?.. they stop buying.. and rightly so.. if we are all criminals now why give these shysters any more money? Sheesh.. even paying for the crap isn't good enough for these bastards.. they want blood too. They aren't going to be ahppy until we are all locked up in prison for failing to pay the billions in "damages" they demand for our "piracy" .. guess next we will see people getting busted for having their own cd's on a mp3 player.. you can already get busted for having the bloody radio on where a member of the public "might hear it"

    I give up.. the worlds has gone mad, and we have allowed it.. wheres my AK47.. better get yours out too.. we gonna need them soon people.
    I couldn't agree with you more than if you threw that thought on the table for the masses to grab. They're taking our freedom of will, dammit. Last time i checked, this was NOT a communist country, so the "acting parties" (RIAA, MPAA, etc.) of this nation need to stop snooping into everthing that we own, quit saying that we are thieves when we are not at all, and quit stifling competition by giving it to monopolies (yes, I'm talking to you Apple!), and for once, quit nitpicking at everything that the people of this nation say and do for heaven's sakes! [end of rant]

    Life is about walking on thin ice, if you make too much drama, youll crack under pressure. - BLUEBOY

    24.2.2010 22:18 #6

  • vontratt

    Way to go, the authoritarian nanny state reminds you it still exists, and that people still want to ignore it. While copyright bullying exists worldwide, folks in the UK seem to take it to a whole new level.

    I am reminded of those thugs that go around trying to find "public performances" of works, that is, businesses playing the radio for their customers.


    25.2.2010 01:36 #7

  • killalot

    Welcome to the UK,the only place where the bully boys will do you for ripping music you paid for out of you hard earned cash to your ipod.
    But on a Sunday you can go to a car boot sale in a open field and buy some counterfeit cds/dvd's etc of some dodge geezer who's laid them out on a large tarpaulin sheet and not see a copper any where,crazy...

    25.2.2010 04:13 #8

  • david94

    this is becoming a joke! its not that we dont know that we're breaking the law, its because we choose it ignore it and i am greatful that there are people that do that. why should we have to pay for the same thing all over again just to hear the same thing on our ipods and mp3 players. as for "piracy", what piracy? if we are paying for the music and converting it for out mp3 players and ipods, its not like we're hosting it on the internet for thousands of people to download for free.

    25.2.2010 08:23 #9

  • av_verbal

    Originally posted by Oner: Originally posted by av_verbal: Quote:Some rights holders believe format shifting should be illegalwe all know who.

    Quote:Sony BMG's chief anti-piracy lawyer: "Copying" music you own is "stealing"

    Gabriel asked if it was wrong for consumers to make copies of music which they have purchased, even just one copy. Pariser replied, "When an individual makes a copy of a song for himself, I suppose we can say he stole a song." Making "a copy" of a purchased song is just "a nice way of saying 'steals just one copy'," she said.
    Cool story bro...I guess since Sony is the ONLY company who deals with media I guess all the blame is always on them right! /s

    they are the only company to my knowledge that have publicly stated that copying your CD's is stealing and that they should be paid every time you format shift.

    but when you look at how they are removing your rights to resale of the computer software through their SecuROM DRM and bundled digital downloads its not hard to see what Sony BMG, the entire company is upto, but that said they are not the only company screwing over its customers.

    25.2.2010 10:58 #10

  • clotus

    With physical media becoming less and less used for music these days (everything is on a portable device of some sort), how can they legitimately state that converting your CD to something you can listen to on your 'new age' mp3 player (so that you don't have to carry that ancient DiscMan around) is illegal. Saying that copying your own music is illegal is outright dumb; you bought a license to LISTEN to the music, you didn't buy a license to have music on a CD.

    I would like to see Gabriel in court trying to convince a judge to convict me of pirating my legitimately purchased CD because I put it on a thumb drive to listen in my CD PLAYER-LESS car...

    Gabriel, eat a d*ck...

    25.2.2010 14:33 #11

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