News, info, and opinion by Mac users, for Mac users.

April 15, 2008

legal

If you get too cold, I’ll tax the heat. If you listen to MP3s, I’ll tax your iPod.

Posted Apr. 15, ’08, 9:21 AM PT by Dan Moren
Category | Legal

Import CDWhile we here in the US complain about our ability to rip DVDs to our computer, at least we can get by for the most part with ripping our CDs (despite occasional claims to the contrary from the RIAA)—not so for our friends across the pond, where making a copy of something without the permission of the copyright holder is a big no-no.

There has been a movement afoot to change this, with Government officials like the Minister of Intellectual Property Lord Triesman having argued that the practice should be made legal (as a sidenote, I’d like to point out that nobody in the US government has either a name or a title that awesome). However, the Music Business Group (MBG), a trade group, has rejected the proposal, which didn’t require extra compensation for creators and copyright holders. They, in turn, have suggested a tax on MP3 players, the rate for which—in the words of 2 Unlimited, y’all ready for this?—they would determine. I know, I know—shocking!

The MBG claims that the transfer of music from physical to digital medium implies value; a Government-sponsored consultation, on the other hand, concluded that in the case of a one-time shift for personal use, “there is no significant harm to the right holder which would need to be compensated.”

Like DVD-ripping, however, I imagine CD-ripping will pretty much continue unabated in the UK. But knowing the record companies, I somehow doubt we’ve heard the last of this.


1 Comments

Daniel said:

naturally, like millions of other Brits, I only own an iPod for the games...

Really it just shows how backward and defensive the music industry is that they would oppose a move to iron out this wrinkle in a law that was drafted long before ripping disks became a daily activity for most people.

Even our beloved Queen owns an iPod. Presumably for the games also.

April 15, 2008 11:30 PM

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