>>
Mr. Xyz bought and owned a CD, he made a digital copy to his MD for
personal use. One year later, Xyz found that he is running out room and he
wanted to sell his CDs, including which were digitally copied to MD.
hmm....is it legal or illegal to sell those 2nd hand CDs?
<<
As a "professional DJ" (aka I pay taxes on my earnings - so I guess that makes
me a "pro" :) )
and a reader of DJ Times, there was a recent article in the magazine with an
interview
with a lawyer from the RIAA - the industry group that files the lawsuits against
people
such as the case above.
There are really two issues -
first - what is "legal" and what is not
second - what the RIAA (or anyone else for that matter) is likely
to actualy pursue a suit for.
Having been a long time manager and watching all the legal mumbo jumbo that
goes on in the corporate world - companies do not "stop" doing things becuase
they are "illegal" - they stop because the risk of "damages" is too high
(aka the other party can win in court easily and with a big cost to them).
Anyway - with respect to the case at hand.
The RIAA has only pursued lawsuits in cases where commercial activity
was conducted with the copies that gave an unfair advantage over an
entity acting in a legal manner. In other words:
If Mr XYZ has used his MD's in a DJ service (aka he DJ'd at a wedding etc)
but he still has a "legal" / "original" version at home - the RIAA "has not
pursued
a case of this nature to date".
If Mr XYZ has two other people working for his DJ service and he gives them
each a copy of a song for which he has purchased a legal copy and they use
them concurrently (aka both do a wedding on the same day) the RIAA HAS
pursued cases of this nature.
Note that the RIAA has NOT commented on the legality of the activity itself -
merely on if cases of this nature have been pursued.
Indeed - the RIAA has NEVER commented on the legality of the copying
itself (because it is indeed "illegal" because of its commercial nature which
therefore is not covered under the Home Recording Act)
The RIAA also realizes that there is a potential for a large backlash from
DJs that are operating in a "ethical" (but not necessarily legal) manner
where they may buy the CDs and make copies so that they dont have
to lug around a zillion CDs. Thus the lack of commentary on the legailty
of the copying activity.
The above examples apply to "commercial" activity...
Personal (aka non commercial use) is regualted under the so called
"home recording act". This basicaly says that a person can make a copy for
personal use (non commercial activity) with the assumption that a legal
copy is in possession.
Therefore - in the case of Mr XYZ above, if he decides to sell the original
(and "legal" copy) of the source material - he must "destroy" the copy at
the time the original is no longer in his ownership.
Of course - what happens in the real world is another matter all together.
EWong
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