DailyTech - British Music Industry Allows Music Fans to Copy Music Files

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Internet British Music Industry Allows Music Fans to Copy Music Files
Michael Hoffman (Blog) - June 12, 2006 5:25 PM

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14 comment(s) - last by Jesse3G.. on Jun 13 at 7:52 PM

The BPI has been busy in recent weeks

As expected, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) has made it legal for music fans in the UK to copy their CDs to a PC or MP3 player, as long as the songs are not freely distributed to other users. Music fans will now only be penalized if they share the ripped songs with other users. Before the copyright law was changed, any user that rips CDs to a computer or MP3 player was technically guilty of copyright infringement.

However, the BPI allowing music fans to copy music to their PC does not mean the organization is now condoning piracy. A common misconception after DailyTech's last article about the BPI led to some readers believing that piracy would now be acceptable in the UK.

Along with allowing British users to copy music for personal use, the BPI has been busy in other ways. The group is also requesting that Apple open up its iTunes music service so that users can put tracks downloaded via iTunes on non-Apple MP3 players. AllofMP3, the MP3 download site that is having its legality questioned as of late, may also face problems from the BPI.

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Sigh

By goku on 6/12/2006 6:08:16 PM , Rating: 5

Now if only the RIAA would take their heads out of their own asses and didn't have a seat in congressional hearings, maybe, just maybe we'd have more rights, rights that we, citizens deserve. It's understandable for them to believe that music piracy is hurting sales, whether or not it's true has yet to be determined but the overall trend seems to speak otherwise. Nonetheless, the RIAA and MPAA trying to restrict our rights is something that is NOT acceptable.

RE: Sigh

By Slaimus on 6/12/2006 6:29:25 PM , Rating: 2

Before this, it was completely illegal to rip CDs onto anything in Britain. They need something like this to give some breathing room for consumer electronics.

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RE: Sigh

By derdon on 6/12/2006 6:34:33 PM , Rating: 2

It has been said over and over and still nothing has changed. Would you stand up and fight for your right or is the nasty comment in the first line a review of your own situation?

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RE: Sigh

By swatX on 6/12/2006 7:16:10 PM , Rating: 2

it doesnt matter. whatever RIAA says, the people in america dont follow it.

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RE: Sigh

By TomZ on 6/12/2006 8:58:29 PM , Rating: 5

Just a reminder, if you disagree with RIAA, please stop giving them your money. Your money currently helps to fund their actions.

http://www.boycottriaa.com/

Here are the labels/services they recommend to boycott:

- Sony Music USA and Sony/BMG
- BMG Music Service
- Warner Music Group
- The EMI Group
- Universal Music Group
- iTunes
- Napster
- Rhapsody Music Service

Before you buy your next CD, you might want to check to see if the CD is RIAA-free. The following web site allows you to check RIAA status by artist, album, label, etc.:

http://www.magnetbox.com/riaa/

They also have some lists of RIAA-free albums for some ideas.

We individuals can make a difference, if we all work together.

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RE: Sigh

By cubby1223 on 6/12/2006 9:42:55 PM , Rating: 2

Heh - I remember when I used to follow boycottriaa.com. Haven't been back in a long time, ever since one of the admins or whomever, wrote an article that basically said, "whoever doesn't believe in everything that I do, and *exactly* what I do, you're an idiot." If I remember, the title of the article was, "Let the Idiots Speak". I'm not joking.

Just before that, they also had an article about one of the harmful worms spreading around the internet that was also programmed to do a ddos against Microsoft, and all the user comments were praising the worm's writer because he's against Microsoft, a company that *gasp* tries to make a profit! And profit is also something many regulars at boycottriaa.com are against, they think companies should give things away at cost to consumers... Again, I'm not joking.

Eh, it's been a long time, though, I wonder if they've changed... I doubt it. It was very clear they prefered being elitists in their own little corner of the internet and not be very open to changing their attitudes so that a much wider audience would joing their cause.

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