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Burn A CD?Why Not Just Steal One.


Fiat_Voluntas_Tua

Is burning a CD that you did not purchase stealing?  

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Brother Adam

[quote name='Sojourner' date='May 17 2004, 08:10 AM'] If you purchase a CD, you are allowed to make a copy of it for your own personal use (in the car, for example) and you are allowed to give those copies to friends as long as you do not charge them.

I see nothing wrong with borrowing a copy of a CD from a friend if my intent is to listen to it for the purpose of deciding whether or not I wish to purchase the CD for myself. If I like the CD, I buy it. If I don't, I am not out the $15 I would have been in buying the CD, and I can give the copy back.

Now, if a person's entire CD collection consisted of copies of CDs, and he or she had no intention of purchasing those CDs, then I'd say a person needs to examine their motives. (For the record, I currently have no copies in my collection.)

I have a friend, for example, who would love to listen to a CD I have. He has four young children, so I am loathe to let him borrow the original CD because I like it and don't want it to get accidentally destroyed.

In this instance, I would have no problem in making a copy and loaning it to my friend in lieu of loaning the original. Is this stealing? I would argue that I am protecting the investment I made in the original. [/quote]
As long as you and your friend are not listening to the cd at the same time, legally, your okay. If you are listening to it at the same time, then it's not okay. Will the Fed's actually come after you? Probably not.

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This question came up when I installed a DVD burner in a friends computer. We researched the issue while looking for software to copy movies that are copy protected.
In laymen's terms this is what we learned and understand. It applies to CD's as well.

In the US, their are the rights of the original owners of a product (the artist and/or the Production [movie or record] Company, and the rights of the Purchasing Consumer. When I purchase a DVD or CD, I have certain rights and ownership that are limited by the rights and ownership of the Producer. My rights allow me to make copies for my use. For my use means that I can make copies to watch or listen to products in different parts of my house or vehicles. That means I could make copies of movies to watch in my portable DVD player, and my living room for the convience and use of my household. Same for CD's. For the use of my household means that I don't physically have to be there, but it generally benefits me.

When we make copies for friends or family that are not part of our household (like our Uncle or Sister of another household), that is not within the parameter of our Consumer Rights and infringes on the rights of the Producer. We may get the benefit of giving an inexpensive gift, but that is the same benefit of giving something we shoplifted.
When it comes to Broadcast, it is just as clear. If you record from a Broadcast, you put enough effort to have some rights as a Producer since the product loses some rights being broadcast via Public Domain. We can tape songs from the Radio and movies from TV or Cable. Again, we are limited to our use within our household (which includes our vehicles and portable devices).

Making "Compilation" CD's of music is murkier. We gain some certain rights as a Producer by 'compiling' various artists/songs into a unique product. That does [b]not[/b] mean copying an entire CD. We are obligated to include the name of the Artist of the Song by copyright laws. In this case, we may give these to friends at no charge. The benefit to the Artist is being exposed to others who may choose to buy additional products from the Artist since the product we are giving is only partial, is unique, and is not circumventing or blocking the Artist's or Producer's right to commercial gain as the originator of the Product.

When we personally consider what the moral limits are, Christians should not be only thinking what we can get away with within our own rights, but we must consider when we may infringe on other's rights. That does not mean saying if we save $13 on a CD, it means alot to us and nothing to MatchBox20. We have to consider that we may contribute to the erosion of all Artist's rights when combined with thousands elsewhere, have a negative effect because we are also saying to others that it's okay.

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okay well i think you stated it wrong. because burning cd can mean many things. burning music you got from your friends cd can be stealing. burning music you downloaded illegaly of the net is stealing. but if you get music like me from dj's who post them on their website or whatever it can't be stealing. or if i have a cd and i'm scared i'l scratch it a lot which i do i might make a backup or put it on my comp.

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ilovechrist

i've had a lot of trouble with this issue...
burning a cd that you did not buy is stealing. any cd that you burn and sell to someone for profit is stealing. if you make your own mixes of your own songs, or burn copies of your own cd's so that you can preserve the original, it's NOT stealing.

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Fiat_Voluntas_Tua

I must have stated the question wrong...

I would agree that if you buy the CD and burn a copy for your car...or a back up incase you scrath one, than it is ok...

But if you borrow a cd from a friend and copy it then it is bad news...

My friend burnt me a cd of this band i have never heard of...to see if i would like them...I ended up liking them but i was obligated to dispose of the CD because i didn't purchase it. CD burning is wonderful...IF DONE LEGALLY!

Pax et Agape per Mariam, Andy

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i voted no because back in the day, your bf would make you a mixed tape or you would make him one...

now, with this new technology we use CDs...i never thought of taping songs as bad so why would burning them be different?

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ilovechrist

[quote name='thywillbedone7' date='May 17 2004, 10:53 PM'] CD burning is wonderful...IF DONE LEGALLY! [/quote]
^_^

i'm going to quote you on that later... i've run into the same problem.. a friend of mine gave me Jane Foresight's cd to listen to.. i loved it.. so i spent 10 bucks and bought the original :D


trachuoi.. it's mainly a question of if you are ripping off the artist or not.. that's why there's such a big hullabaloo.

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p0lar_bear

OK, my mother tends to want copies of really obscure old songs. There was one particular song she couldn't find anywhere. She looked for compilation CD, tried to find who the artist was, who owned the rights, etc. The only place she managed to find it was as an mp3 online. Now, was it unethical for her to download it? The song, I'm sure, is still copyrighted, but there was no opportunity to purchase it as copyright laws would dictate.

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ilovechrist

p0lar..
look at the site... i'm guessing it's a free download. if you can't find it ANYWHERE else, try talking to the webmaster, and see what he knows about it. don't download it for free... it depends how old it is to see if it's still copyrighted or not.

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[quote name='p0lar_bear' date='May 18 2004, 09:10 AM'] OK, my mother tends to want copies of really obscure old songs. There was one particular song she couldn't find anywhere. She looked for compilation CD, tried to find who the artist was, who owned the rights, etc. The only place she managed to find it was as an mp3 online. Now, was it unethical for her to download it? The song, I'm sure, is still copyrighted, but there was no opportunity to purchase it as copyright laws would dictate. [/quote]
Well, in that case, since it's out of print, no one is making money off it, right? So wouldn't that be okay? Since there's really no way to buy it any other way? :unsure:

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[quote name='Colleen' date='May 21 2004, 12:41 PM'] Well, in that case, since it's out of print, no one is making money off it, right? So wouldn't that be okay? Since there's really no way to buy it any other way? :unsure: [/quote]
How do you know nobody is making $$ off of it? But your logic is fundamentally sound. If you aren't taking away the right to make $$ off something that is owned by somebody else, then it seems less likely that you are causing harm. You also have to consider if you are contributing to the ability of the Laws of the Land to protect the Rights of the Producer. That's the moral choice that you have to carefully consider.

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