In legal documents in its federal case against Jeffrey Howell, a Scottsdale, Ariz., man who kept a collection of about 2,000 music recordings on his personal computer, the industry maintains that it is illegal for someone who has legally purchased a CD to transfer that music into his computer.
The industry’s lawyer in the case, Ira Schwartz, argues in a brief filed earlier this month that the MP3 files Howell made on his computer from legally bought CDs are “unauthorized copies” of copyrighted recordings.
As the Post notes:
They’re not kidding. In October, after a trial in Minnesota — the first time the industry has made its case before a federal jury — Jammie Thomas was ordered to pay $220,000 to the big record companies. That’s $9,250 for each of 24 songs she was accused of sharing online.
The only sensible reaction would be for every consumer of music to refuse to make even a single purchase (CD or digital) until the industry backed off to a practical and reasonable position on fair use. I’m in. Anyone else?
I agree, stop buying!
I’m already on board.
The Post subsequently corrected itself:
However, in fact, the RIAA does believe it is illegal to copy your own CDs. They just haven’t sued anyone for doing so and the Post was incorrect describing the brief. So, the Post’s correction is partially incorrect.
Threat Level has more.