RIAA Sues Man for Copying Legal CDs to His PC

[JackT]

http://www.audioholics.com/news/industr ... -legal-cds

Good short article about an unbelievable lawsuit by the RIAA.

UPDATE: Turns out the article isn't so "good" after all. It IS short, though. That's Clint DeBoer for you.

[moondance]

Wow, that is unbelievable. These were cds he already owned and burned to his pc. That's incredible how greedy these people are!

[violets]

The guy had to have done something to make is "personal" computer public. Otherwise, what did the RIAA do? Pick a name out of the phone book?

[withahip]

The guy had to have done something to make is "personal" computer public. Otherwise, what did the RIAA do? Pick a name out of the phone book?

You would think . .but~

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... id=topnews

Now, in an unusual case in which an Arizona recipient of an RIAA letter has fought back in court rather than write a check to avoid hefty legal fees, the industry is taking its argument against music sharing one step further: In legal documents in its federal case against Jeffrey Howell, a Scottsdale, Ariz., man who kept a collection of about 2,000 music recordings on his personal computer, the industry maintains that it is illegal for someone who has legally purchased a CD to transfer that music into his computer.

The industry's lawyer in the case, Ira Schwartz, argues in a brief filed earlier this month that the MP3 files Howell made on his computer from legally bought CDs are "unauthorized copies" of copyrighted recordings.

"I couldn't believe it when I read that," says Ray Beckerman, a New York lawyer who represents six clients who have been sued by the RIAA. "The basic principle in the law is that you have to distribute actual physical copies to be guilty of violating copyright. But recently, the industry has been going around saying that even a personal copy on your computer is a violation."

The Howell case was not the first time the industry has argued that making a personal copy from a legally purchased CD is illegal. At the Thomas trial in Minnesota, Sony BMG's chief of litigation, Jennifer Pariser, testified that "when an individual makes a copy of a song for himself, I suppose we can say he stole a song." Copying a song you bought is "a nice way of saying 'steals just one copy,' " she said.

[withahip]

Looks like even the Washington Post got it wrong . . .
Even the Washington Post got it wrong.

http://www.engadget.com/2007/12/30/riaa ... -about-it/

Okay, so we've done some digging into the RIAA's lawsuit against Jeffery Howell, in which the industry is claiming that ripped MP3s are "unauthorized copies," and it turns out that Jeffery isn't actually being sued for ripping CDs, like the Washington Post and several other sources have reported, but for plain old illegal downloading.

[JackT]

Looks like even the Washington Post got it wrong . . .
Even the Washington Post got it wrong.

http://www.engadget.com/2007/12/30/riaa ... -about-it/

Okay, so we've done some digging into the RIAA's lawsuit against Jeffery Howell, in which the industry is claiming that ripped MP3s are "unauthorized copies," and it turns out that Jeffery isn't actually being sued for ripping CDs, like the Washington Post and several other sources have reported, but for plain old illegal downloading.

Ha I was going to post the exact same link. BTW the Washington Post gets lots of things wrong.

So, even though Howell is being sued for illegal downloading, the suit DOES claim that ripped mp3s are illegal.

[JackT]

The guy had to have done something to make is "personal" computer public. Otherwise, what did the RIAA do? Pick a name out of the phone book?

You were right!

[JackT]

Here's the "improved" version of that original audioholics story. It points out that only gullible morons bought the original version as reported by the media.

http://www.audioholics.com/news/industr ... -legal-cds

[moondance]

It points out that only gullible morons bought the original version as reported by the media.

Aw, I knew it was a hoax all along. I just didn't want to make ya feel stoopid Jack!