It would seem that after the courts granted the Cartels a little leeway they are after taking more than they are entitled to in the way of copyrights.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004409.phpRIAA Says Ripping CDs to Your iPod is NOT Fair Use
As part of the on-going DMCA rule-making proceedings, the RIAA and other copyright industry associations submitted a filing that included this gem as part of their argument that space-shifting and format-shifting do not count as noninfringing uses, even when you are talking about making copies of your own CDs:
"Nor does the fact that permission to make a copy in particular circumstances is often or even routinely granted, necessarily establish that the copying is a fair use when the copyright owner withholds that authorization. In this regard, the statement attributed to counsel for copyright owners in the MGM v. Grokster case is simply a statement about authorization, not about fair use."
For those who may not remember, here's what Don Verrilli said to the Supreme Court last year:
"The record companies, my clients, have said, for some time now, and it's been on their website for some time now, that it's perfectly lawful to take a CD that you've purchased, upload it onto your computer, put it onto your iPod."If I understand what the RIAA is saying, "perfectly lawful" means "lawful until we change our mind." So your ability to continue to make copies of your own CDs on your own iPod is entirely a matter of their sufferance. What about all the indie label CDs? Do you have to ask each of them for permission before ripping your CDs? And what about all the major label artists who control their own copyrights? Do we all need to ask them, as well?
P.S.: The same filing also had this to say: "Similarly, creating a back-up copy of a music CD is not a non-infringing use...."
Thanks to the eagle eyed EFF folks, I hope its clear from the above the RIAA seem to think they can change your rights without so much a a hello.
They would seem to be disregarding many countries laws that allow "fair use" of purchased recordings and making the rules up as they go along , I wonder why they apply different rules to themselves than they do to fileshares, respecting rights is a two way street.
