The following question was offered as a common question received in a school:
You can copy this music cd for me–can’t you?
This is a fabulous question. The catch is the difference between what “can” be done and what “should” be done. With the speed of technology today, it very common for something to be not only possible, but also very easy and still not be legal. Even when someone purchases a music CD from the store, they can not legally copy it so that they have two CDs to actively use. Now I will pose an additional question. It is legal to make a copy of a software CD as long as it is not used. This copy is for backup purposes only. So would it also stand that you can make a back up copy of any music CD that you purchase as long as it is not used?
3 responses so far ↓
1
Petra
// Oct 24, 2007 at 11:27 am
From what I see on the Copyright and Fair Use guidelines, the answer to that is generally a No. Exception is that Libraries can make a copy to replace a lost, damaged or stolen copy if the fair price of the software is not available or in a viable format. This makes some sense due to the risk that any copy made could easily slip into the hands of another user. This puts a lot of responsibility on the Library. Sounds similar to our jobs as SBTS being responsible for the security of IMS passwords.
2
timstahmer
// Oct 24, 2007 at 3:45 pm
Actually, fair use rulings over the years have allowed people to make copies of their media and use both. The iPod is a great example. You make a copy of the tracks when you “rip” a CD into iTunes. Then you might put the song onto two different iPods. And none of this excludes you from playing the CD itself. The key, according to the courts, is that only one of the copies can be in use at any one time.
The license agreement from many software publishers these days specifically allows installation of the program on both a desktop and laptop computer as long as it’s not being used on both machines at the same time. This is really nothing more than an acknowledgment of what is covered in fair use.
3
cemohn
// Oct 28, 2007 at 5:08 pm
Ah, great point. I was reading the question very differently, but this sheds a different light on it. I guess I was automatically assuming that the requested copy of the CD was to be given away, which wasn’t written into the question at all. iTunes does allow you to import music from a CD, but that is for the person who owns the CD. I guess that would be the part of the question that would really have to be defined. Who and what is the copy for? If the copy if for someone else, then that will have an impact on the market value of the CD, and would be against fair use.
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