I’ve been closely following recent dialogue over the legality of transferring music from a legally purchased CD to a computer. The web has been abuzz since Marc Fisher wrote in a recent article that the RIAA considers the practice of transferring music from a legally purchased CD, illegal. This information quickly spread around the web. Recently an engadget article pointed out that the RIAA legal brief was targeting the sharing of the ripped files as the illegal act and that the music copied onto the computer were considered “unauthorized copies”.
Thanks to an article by Greg Sandoval at CNET I just came across a recent discussion on NPR between Marc Fisher, the Washington Post columnist who wrote the original story and Cary Sherman, president of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
As Sandoval points out the RIAA is contesting the notion that they are declaring transferring music from legally purchased CDs to a computer, illegal. They are instead focusing on the sharing of “unauthorized copies.” The RIAA however does not take the next step to declare that copying legally purchased music from CD to computer is indeed legal. Instead Sherman, according to Sandoval, who wrote:
He [Sherman] stopped short of that, saying that copyright law is too complex to make such sweeping statements. He did state that there is one full-proof way of discovering the RIAA’s policy on personal use: check the record.
Both Sandoval’s article and the actual discussion on NPR are helpful in temporarily clarifying the legality of Fair Use processes such as ripping legally purchased music from a cd to ones computer. This process is extremely important in the daily work of music educators.
Many of these and related articles demonstrate just how complex this area of copyright is. The issue of “authorized” vs. “unauthorized” copies is an equally confusing concept which might be added to the list of issues that we can/should discuss in our music classrooms. The comments left throughout the articles and blog posts and the blog posts in response to the news are equally compelling to read as they shed light on various perspectives pertaining to issues of copyright. Alexander Wolfe, from the Information Week, shifts the discussion to propose propose reducing the length of copyright ownership for the RIAA. Other sites such as techdirt and p2pnet add information and perspectives to the ongoing dialogue.
The issues are sure to develop and become even more complex in the future. How are you addressing copyright and its presence in media news in your classroom?
UPDATE 1/ 9/08 – Yet another update featuring an analysis of the RIAA’s position that ripping music from CDs to mp3 format is not legal and is unauthorized.