Ripping to mp3 or PC in the UK illegal after all...?

[wasoota]

This came up in that bygone copyright vs. stealing thread where I claimed that it was illegal in the UK to rip your CD to mp3-player or PC, something I had read (among other places) on BBC Online. I thought I stood corrected by Kaijman that it wasn't illegal if it was for personal use, but here goes the BBC again (quoting 'Consumer Focus') saying it's illegal:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8000876.stm

"It is currently a copyright violation [in the UK] to rip a CD that you own on to your PC or iPod," said Consumer Focus, "even though over half (55%) of British consumers admit to doing it and three in five (59%) think this type of copying is perfectly legal."

Surely one can at least assume that the law is not being enforced to its full extent within the UK, but I'd still watch my step a little... I'd have posted it in the other thread but didn't want to bring back all the bad vibes of the underlying argument. 

[Kaijman]

OK i was referencing this :-

"If you've bought a CD in a shop, you may want to copy the songs onto an MP3 player or make a copy of the CD. Generally speaking, you can make a copy for your own personal use, you will not be breaking the law. You can also lend the CD that you bought to your friends if they want to listen to it.

However, it is illegal to make copies of CDs and give them to your friends or to sell pirate copies of CDs for a profit."

which I got from www.direct.gov.uk . This is the governments one stop site for public service information and is compiled by the Central Office of Information.

So either the BBC or the Government has got it wrong.  What I find amusing is that one is controlled by the other!

[wasoota]

lol, indeed. Very weird.

[MikeMaier]

It probably is illegal.  It's complete stupidity either way.

If I bought a legit copy, I will do with it as I see fit.  That means burning CDs of my LP's or making DVDs out of my VHS tapes.  I don't care what any govt fool says.

And yes, I've burned copies of all hundreds of CDs to keep at work.  There's no way I'm trusting my originals in an office building with no locked doors and only a little drawer lock to keep me from losing hundreds of dollars worth of CDs.  Bad enough I could lose the $40 case I store them in as well as 200+ CD-Rs.

[FRETPICK]

The judical system is going to make an example of "The Pirate Bay"

Rightly so to.

[FRETPICK]

Stumbled across a great artical.

12 May 2009.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2009/05/how_damaging_is_illegal_filesh.html

[MikeMaier]

The piracy issue is WAY overrated in terms of the damage done.  The media loves to quote the doomsayers, makes for more readable copy.

How many of those pirating would EVER buy the pirated items anyway?  I would guess much less than a third of those pirating would ever put money down for the DVDs or the CDs if they could not pirate the items.

That's not to say there aren't losses incurred.  But to say "X number of jobs are at risk" is disingenuous.  There is no way to determine the damages done.

I don't expect filesharing / torrent sites to be legal for much longer anyway after Obama makes his "OFFICE OF INTERNET DICTATORSIHP".

Guess I'll have to go back to trading CD-Rs of live shows in the mail...

[FRETPICK]

Bootlegs were of a different era back in the day when it was hard to get music out to A, B, C.

To say that it's being blown out proportion by the media I think is a misjustice.

As a compay you cant' keep on paying people when there is no revenue available. No industry is immune to the economic downturn. Commercial media is no exception. This industry also has the added strain of an underground bias that is hard to regulate.

The knock on effect's become apparent when every month a company has to make a certian pay scale to it's employees.

Companies can & do go into administration. One way of keeping things going till things recover is by letting people go.

The saying that some poor people have heard.

"Last in, first out."

However I've found a narsty loop for poor English guys here.

If a company goes into Administration it becomes void of paying redundancies to it's employees.
Not good if you have been at a place for 17 years.

I think the point is this.

Most if not all manufacturing  companies are struggling.