Whilst its been legal to download items for "research and educational purposes" its been an anachronism of UK law that it was illegal to rip a CD.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7176538.stmCopying music from a CD to a home computer could be made legal under new proposals from the UK government.
Intellectual property minister Lord Triesman said the law should be changed so it "keeps up with the times".
The changes would apply only to people copying music for personal use - meaning multiple copying and internet file-sharing would still be banned.
Music industry bodies gave a cautious welcome to the proposals, which are up for public consultation until 8 April.
Lord Triesman said the proposed changes would explore "where the boundaries lie between strong protection for right holders and appropriate levels of access for users".
The proposals also suggest schools and libraries should be given greater flexibility in how they use copyrighted material like CDs and DVDs, and suggests parodies of songs and films could be made exempt from copyright law.
The consultation follows the Gowers Review of Intellectual Property, which recommended that aspects of the intellectual property system should be reformed.
Sounds good to me