Legal & Ethical Questions in the PC Audio Age

Is it legal to lend my CD to strangers?

Recently libraries in my state had lawsuit against them for renting books. It claimed that book was intended for one person only and lending them to many people cuts down on sales and author's profit (true). Is it moral to read a book without paying for that? When you listen to CD from library you might eventually buy it to listen many more times, but once you read book you are not likely to read it again soon.

RIAA receives few cents from every CD or CDr sold in US. Recent lawsuit against them for promoting copy protection says that they cannot receive money from copy protected CD and equivalent quantities of CD-R at the same time.

Frank - I love the story and will send you a ham for it unless you're jewish. I had jewish lawyer once and he was very honest - could this be somehow related to lack of ham temptation?

Frank - maybe you, being a layewr, could help me with this: How is it moral and legal to rent and read book from library without paying anything to author or publisher (cutting on their profit). If book wouldn't be available in library more people would buy it in store. Do libraries pay to publishers or authors? Should I feel guilty reading book from the library? The fact that everybody is doing it and for the long time is not important - I am interested how is it legal or moral?

Drubin - very often used CDs sold by Amazon parties are brand new sometimes with hole punched thru paper booklet or backcover - sometimes even thru plastic of the box (can anybody explain why?). I got that way brand new CDs for a fraction of a price. Try also tower.com - stores went bankrupt but on-line business was sold to somebody and still exists. Their prices are often better then Amazon and delivery is great (free over $20).

Frank

Thank you - I was mixing fair use with unauthorized copying. I know that RIAA was objecting at one point to making copy for yourself (thief=victim)

I know that copying CD from another person is illegal but at the age of compact cassette and Reel to Reel tape recorders copying was OK (I think) since tape manufacturers paid small fee per foot of the tape to go into fund/pool that was redistributed to artists based on amount of sold records. Now we have as well Music-CD-Rs that probably have similar provision to pay back to artists (a little more expensive than regular CD-Rs).

Everything is getting a little fuzzy since some performers sell only downloads. In addition there is digital radio, HDTV, Ipods etc.

I know that according to RIAA copying your own CD to Ipod is illegal (format change). It might be illegal but is it immoral (I paid for CD)?
RIAA is afraid that once CD gets transfered into unprotected MP4 it will spread to other Ipods. Tracking is also more difficult since there is no physical object (CD) to trace.

Poverty is a really bad thing and people shouldn't do it!

Seriously - I know (I hope) when I'm committing illegal act like unauthorized copying of CD or driving 56mpg in 55mpg zone but we have to remember that we are buying from the crooks who in collude are setting very high prices of CDs. Free competition is a joke. I remember investigation started by one of TV channels on the price of the cornflakes. And then suddenly there was complete silence. Was TV station paid or threaten? One should be as honest as possible and if not - should be at least true to himself and admit it but on the other hand we live between crooks of such scale that all our wrongdoings are pretty much like driving 56mpg in 55mpg zone.

Did you notice that SACDs (impossible to copy) are in order of $30 while manufacturing cost the same as regular CD. Should music be only privilege of some but not all people. I know that we need only water and food to live (everything else is want) but I don't consider it living.

Uru975 - Agree. Nothing can excuse unethical behavior but if not for people copying and downloading - CDs would be over $30 (monopoly+demand) and many people wouldn't be able to afford them. This is more to even the field and in this particular case I believe that victim fully deserves it and had it coming.

Scott - Even if only one person reads book from library it lowers the sales - without libraries people would buy more books. Frank explained to me that library has permission and pays fee to do it.

People who rent books from library often engage in despicable act of illegal copying pages from the book for their own use (ha ha).

I'm happy you mentioned DVDs. I don't know how much it is right now for new releases, but let say it is $20 but in places like China is $2. It is still profitable, otherwise they wouldn't do it. So they charge us at least 900% higher price or make 900% profit on us. It is only possible when companies are colluding. Further proof of this is zoning code to prevent anybody from China to ship and sell back multi-language DVDs in US. They forced this code (bribing our government) on DVD player makers and most of DVD players in US won't play DVDs from another region. I cannot thing of another reason for this zone code than price fixing. If this is not a proof of their illegal activity (colluding) I don't know what is. And in view of all us being cheated copying DVD for private use is a crime and immoral act?