Music lovers had better be careful.Even if you purchase your favorite CD legally you may not be able to transfer it onto your computer, that is, if the music industry has its way.
The Recording Industry Association of America has taken an Arizona man to court for keeping about 2,000 music recordings on his personal computer for this reason.They maintain that the MP3 files Jeffrey Howell made on his computer from legally purchased CD's are 'unauthorized copies' of copyrighted recordings.
The music industry has undoubtedly been encouraged to take this extreme view by the judgment in the case of Jammie Thomas, who was ordered by a Minnesota jury to pay $220,000 to record companies for the 24 songs she shared online, that is about $9,250 for each song she shared. This decision had surprised music fans who were used to settling lawsuits with music companies for a few hundred dollars.
In spite of the thousands of lawsuits filed against music fans who find and download free music online, digital music sharing is increasing and the sales of recording companies have been dipping. Clearly theirs is a business model which has failed to keep pace with the technological advances in the field.Nevertheless the RIAA persists in going around threatening students and teenagers with lawsuits unless they settle by making payment.The RIAA claims that more than half the college students download music illegally. They claim that making a single copy of a song even for personal use amounts to stealing one copy.
The lawsuit is unlikely to succeed because lawyers for consumers point to a series of court rulings that have found no violation of copyright law in the use of VCR's and other devices to record TV programs which enable portability of a legally obtained recording. They say that to be guilty of copyright law you have to distribute actual physical copies. Obviously copies for personal use would not be a violation of these laws.
The music industry on its part is unwilling to see reason. They don't understand that they will not be able to control the digital revolution. They need to innovate and find new business models instead of clinging to outdated practices. They have to move towards offering music online and at cheaper prices. Increased sales will definitely make up for reduced profit margins.Dragging teenagers to court won't get them anywhere.