out of print Cds, records, tapes

[fueledbymusic]

What is the name of your state? California

Another question I have about copying music:

1) If a music album (CDs, records, tapes) goes "out of print", meaning they are not making that album anymore. Is it still illegal to "share" it on the net? Thus, are these still capable of getting "sharers" in trouble with the RIAA?

2) What about recording/transfering off old records/tapes to mp3s, then "sharing" it?

3) What about albums where the Artists live in other countries?

 

[justalayman]

the best guy on this forum to answer your questions is divgradcurl. that is his specific area of practice.

but a little bit, maybe.

as long as there is a copyright on the material, there is a copyright on the material. It makes no diff if it is still in print or not.

music in the public domain has no © on it anymore so is safe.

2) What about recording/transfering off old records/tapes to mp3s, then "sharing" it?

generally, no. You cannot loan out copies of ©'d material you copied. Basically the same as this internet sharing stuff, wouldn;t you say?

3) What about albums where the Artists live in other countries?

this is really one for divgradcurl but if I remember what he has posted in the past, there is something called the Berne agreement and any participating nation respects the others copyrights and as so, you are subject to legal action should you infringe on even a foreign copyright froma country that respects that Berne thing.

 

[divgradcurl]

Justalayman is pretty much right on here.

1) If a music album (CDs, records, tapes) goes "out of print", meaning they are not making that album anymore. Is it still illegal to "share" it on the net? Thus, are these still capable of getting "sharers" in trouble with the RIAA?

Being "in print" or "out of print" is irrelevant from the perspective of copyright law. If the copyright is still valid, it is enforceable -- and copyrights last so long these days that's its unlikely that any recorded works will be moving into the public domain anytime soon. In fact, unless the copyright law is amended to make the terms even longer, I think 2048 is the first year anything currently covered by copyright can move into the public domain...

2) What about recording/transfering off old records/tapes to mp3s, then "sharing" it?

If they are covered by copyright, see above. There is no issue with transferring to MP3, the issue lies with sharing.

3) What about albums where the Artists live in other countries?

Virtually every country is a Berne signatory, and certainly any country where there is likely to be significant numbers of recordings from is a Berne signatory. Any Berne signatory treats copyrighted works as if they were copyrighted in their own country -- so, for example, a French copyright owner could sue you for infringement of a French copyright in the U.S. under U.S. copyright law -- although, more likely, they have some sort of agreement with the RIAA or someone to let them handle U.S. enforcement, and vice-versa.

 

[fueledbymusic]

recording to a tape deck from "streaming" music from Itunes etc

OH one other question.

We probably remember those days when we used to record off our LP records to a tape in those old days.

I have seen someone how hooks his computer to his home stereo. Connects the earphone output of his computer to the inputs of home stereo. Then he plays a song from Napster.

The service (like most other music services) allows us to play a song with out paying for it. (unlimited "streaming")

NOW for the question: Is it illegal to "stream" the song on the home stereo, then record it on a tape?

 

[divgradcurl]

OH one other question.

We probably remember those days when we used to record off our LP records to a tape in those old days.

I have seen someone how hooks his computer to his home stereo. Connects the earphone output of his computer to the inputs of home stereo. Then he plays a song from Napster.

The service (like most other music services) allows us to play a song with out paying for it. (unlimited "streaming")

NOW for the question: Is it illegal to "stream" the song on the home stereo, then record it on a tape?

Probably not. The Audio Home Recording Act was enacted to basically make is legal to make recordings for personal use of radio transmissions. In this case, so long as the stream is licensed by the copyright holder (a legal stream), it is not illegal to make a recording for PERSONAL use. See also Universal Pictures v. Sony, the Betamax case. "Time shifting" of a copyrighted work in this manner is legal.

Of course, it would be illegal to share that recorded stream with friends, or make it available on a P2P network. Copying and taping is legal for PERSONAL use, and that's it.