Hi all,
I recently wrote an article on mp3 players for our staff mag. However, a reader has written to me stating the following (which I assume he's picked up from a web site or magazine). Is he right? Anyone know/got any further info?
Thanks,
Ade
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Copyright or wrong?
Is it legal to copy your LPs and tapes that you already own to CD? After all, you've already paid for the music so it's not like you're trying to cheat the system.
To check out the legal situation, we decided to talk to the British Phonographic Institute (BPI), the body that represents the interests of UK record labels.
Unfortunately, the news was not good. "Technically speaking, the legal position is that you can't do it," says Matt Philips, a BPI representative.
"When you buy an LP, you buy the right to listen to that music but not to copy it. So in that sense, it's the same as home copying. If you look at the small print on the LP it will say that unauthorised copying is prohibited, which means exactly that."
Essentially, when you buy music in LP form you are only paying to listen to it on an LP. Strictly speaking, the letter of the law says that if you want to listen to it on CD then you have to pay the rights holder again, which means buying the album again on CD.
"The reasoning behind it is that you've got to protect the rights of the rights holder, which in this case is the record company, to commercially exploit those recordings in the way that they see fit," says Mr Philips. "Home copying is outside of that so you're not allowed to do it."
However, the BPI is aware that the practice is common and the practicalities of the situation mean that it's highly unlikely that you would actually be prosecuted for such actions. After all, converting CDs to MP3 or recording LPs on cassette fall foul of the law in exactly the same way but it's not exactly frowned upon.
Nevertheless, although we know of nobody who has been in trouble for doing it - apart from those making many copies to sell - bear in mind that you will technically be breaking the law when you convert a copyrighted LP into CD format.
I recently wrote an article on mp3 players for our staff mag. However, a reader has written to me stating the following (which I assume he's picked up from a web site or magazine). Is he right? Anyone know/got any further info?
Thanks,
Ade
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright or wrong?
Is it legal to copy your LPs and tapes that you already own to CD? After all, you've already paid for the music so it's not like you're trying to cheat the system.
To check out the legal situation, we decided to talk to the British Phonographic Institute (BPI), the body that represents the interests of UK record labels.
Unfortunately, the news was not good. "Technically speaking, the legal position is that you can't do it," says Matt Philips, a BPI representative.
"When you buy an LP, you buy the right to listen to that music but not to copy it. So in that sense, it's the same as home copying. If you look at the small print on the LP it will say that unauthorised copying is prohibited, which means exactly that."
Essentially, when you buy music in LP form you are only paying to listen to it on an LP. Strictly speaking, the letter of the law says that if you want to listen to it on CD then you have to pay the rights holder again, which means buying the album again on CD.
"The reasoning behind it is that you've got to protect the rights of the rights holder, which in this case is the record company, to commercially exploit those recordings in the way that they see fit," says Mr Philips. "Home copying is outside of that so you're not allowed to do it."
However, the BPI is aware that the practice is common and the practicalities of the situation mean that it's highly unlikely that you would actually be prosecuted for such actions. After all, converting CDs to MP3 or recording LPs on cassette fall foul of the law in exactly the same way but it's not exactly frowned upon.
Nevertheless, although we know of nobody who has been in trouble for doing it - apart from those making many copies to sell - bear in mind that you will technically be breaking the law when you convert a copyrighted LP into CD format.