I remember hearing that as well. The fact that you are selling on the CD means that the digital copies that you have are no longer back-ups for the CD you have/had.

alan, July 20, 2008; 11:03 AM

thanks. when I asked the guy who told me on itunes discussion board if he was serious, he got
a bit aggresive and very close to calling me a thief then reported me to an administrator who
removed the thread. fair enough to the admin but he had some nerve. I can't even defend
myself against the accusation.

gcowhey, July 20, 2008; 11:31 AM

Sure you can. Who's going to complain unless you state that you have made a copy for yourself? I'd tell the guy to screw himself.

I've copied several recordings to my computer in order to keep the music and sell the original CD.

victoravalentine, July 20, 2008; 12:34 PM

I'd love to tell the contrite in-duh-vidual what to do with himself. But I lost his info when thread
was deleted. Am trying to draw him out by posting more questions about lossless without
mentioning selling CD's. I can be bitter too.

gcowhey, July 20, 2008; 12:41 PM

alan is right. From a legal point of view, once you sell the original CD, keeping your CD-R copies of those is not allowed.

handstand, July 20, 2008; 1:02 PM

Sorry, but it is a clear "copy"right violation, as you no longer own the CD. I can't believe the guy got all bent out of shape over it, but oh well. It's just like making a copy for your friends or relatives that didn't pay for it, it's illegal. That said, it's probably one of the most violated laws around, just like speeding :)

Laurawhitehead1, July 20, 2008; 1:03 PM

If I had known it was illegal I would never have considered selling them but just store them
away. the guy annoyed me though.

gcowhey, July 20, 2008; 1:28 PM

The situation is a bit trickier indeed. If you copy any kind of data to a recordable device (e.g. CD-
R, DVD-R), it is legal by any means, because you've already paid a certain amount to cover
royalties.

Apple's policy to insist, that you are only allowed to do a single (backup) copy is more than
doubtful and wouldn't stand a juridical examination.

coma, July 20, 2008; 4:11 PM

I mentioned it to my sister who is in the legal profession, and, although it is not her area of
expertise, she said the guy was talking through his hat - so many countries have differing
policies in these things - and could not imagine its the case here in Ireland.

gcowhey, July 20, 2008; 5:28 PM

I'd assume that back in the old days there would be hell to pay to the Vegas mob if someone bootlegged a Billy May recording.

victoravalentine, July 20, 2008; 9:11 PM

As I understand it, if you're keeping the dupe for your own personal, private use, it's okay. Once you start doing ANYTHING else with that copy, then it's a different matter.

kriegerg69, July 20, 2008; 10:29 PM

Interesting question.
I think coma's right - you bought a legit copy, so you can make 'back-up' copies for yourself, as long as you don't sell or share them.
Imagine one of your discs getting lost or stolen, are you supposed to throw away your back-up copy as well then? ;)

And if it indeed would be illegal, I think this is one crime that won't be frowned upon by any rational human being.

rinse_dream, July 21, 2008; 10:12 AM

rinse_dream wrote:
"And if it indeed would be illegal, I think this is one crime that won't be frowned upon by any rational human being."

Are you nuts?? Here in the US the RIAA has witch hunts for that sort of thing.
The deal is this, if you get rid of the cds and did NOT pay for the digital copies off itunes, then yes you are violating a law. However if you got rid of the originals and paid for the digital versions off itunes, then no you are not violating anything

I do recall reading once where someone posed the question of the original cs being stolen and that the legal answer was still if you do not have the cd, the digital versions were illegal to own.


mazinz, July 27, 2008; 3:16 AM

@mazinz

Sorry, but I'm sure this is not an actively pursued crime in any country. Crossing a red light as a pedestrian is also a crime - I think that's somewhere in the same ballpark.

In fact, the law is only chasing after the ones that sell illegal copies, meaning the person owns a bunch of the same CDs/DVDs/games, aka 'intent to sell'.

I don't mean any offence by previous comments, but we have to be realistic here. Sure iTunes will claim everything is a crime, when it results in more sales.
Should you not be convinced, hold on to all of your receipts ;)

rinse_dream, July 29, 2008; 3:27 PM