Bringing Yourself Up to Speed with AAC, MP3, and Digital Audio - Fair Use and Why It Doesn’t Apply to MP3
(Page 12 of 16 )
Fair use is a copyright provision that causes huge amounts of confusion. Fair use allows you to reproduce part of a copyrighted work without permission but without infringing copyright in limited circumstances. For example, if you’re reviewing a book, you might be able to fairly use short quotes from it to illustrate the points you’re making. When criticizing a movie, you might be able to fairly reproduce a picture from it. When teaching, you might be able to make multiple copies of a couple of pages from a book so each member of the class could read them.
All those examples say “might” because fair use is judged according to four very fluid factors (which we won’t get into here). One person’s understanding of fair use may be very different from another’s, and fair use issues are frequently taken to court.
In brief, what you need to know about fair use is this: fair use is seldom if ever relevant to copying audio CDs or creating MP3 files. But you’ll often hear people using the phrase as justification for illegal copying they’ve performed.
Burning CDs of Copyrighted Works for Others Is Illegal Burning CDs of copyrighted works for others without permission is illegal, no matter how easy it is to do or how many people seem to be doing it. Burning backup CDs of copyrighted works for yourself may be legal—but it’s seldom entirely clear. For example, you’ll see notices on many software CDs that say things like “Do not make illegal copies of this disc,” suggesting that making legal copies (for backup) is acceptable. By contrast, many audio CDs bear notices such as “Unauthorized copying, reproduction, hiring, lending, public performance, and broadcasting prohibited.”
NOTE: At this writing, the iTunes Music Store agreement specifically permits you to burn files you buy from the iTunes Music Store to CD.
Sharing MP3 Files of Copyrighted Material Is Illegal Sharing files containing other people’s copyrighted material without permission is illegal. For example, many of the MP3 files shared on peer-to-peer file-sharing services (such as the pioneering but now-defunct Napster and successors including Gnutella, Kazaa, and Aimster) are shared illegally.
That said, some artists encourage you to distribute their works freely. For example, artists who choose to make tracks available on web music sites such as www.iuma.com generally allow those tracks to be downloaded for free to generate publicity. Most of those artists encourage those who download the tracks to pass them on to other people to spread their music farther, in the hopes of increasing their audience or selling CDs of their other music.
Even some artists encourage you to distribute the copyrighted works that their CDs contain. For example, if you’re one of the (apparently few) people who has an original copy (so to speak) of the album Igneous Rock by the Tempe, Arizona, band Sledville, you’ll find that the CD insert card states “Unauthorized duplication is encouraged. Distribute freely.”
 This is chapter three of How to Do Everything with Your iPod & iPod Mini, by Guy Hart-Davis (McGraw-Hill/Osborne, ISBN 0072254521, 2004). Check it out at your favorite bookstore today.
Buy this book now. |
Next: Circumventing Copy Protection May Be Illegal >>
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