I'll admit I don't own an ipod and I'm not really a music lover. My son on the other hand is. So we are planning a Rock N Roll 3rd birthday party. I thought a fun party favor would be to burn a CD with his favorite songs on it for each kid to take home. I'm just wondering if this is legal or crosses over into the realm of stealing since each person would not be paying for those songs. I know back in the day Mix Tapes were made all the time. I am just clueless about this issue and need some help. Thanks!
Okay so I'm getting a lot of good responses and I'm hearing people say, maybe it's illegal maybe not - but kind of iffy. So let me add this question, if your child went to a party and brought home a mixed CD would you think "WOW so-and-so's mom completely pirated this CD?" I personally would never give it a second thought. I'd just pop it in the car and enjoy some fresh tunes. But I know that my level of awareness on this issue is sub par. Do you think the general population would think I am stealing?
if you bought the songs and are not making a profit off of them, I think it's ok, but I'm not an expert.
i'll be interested to see responses. i think technically they are, just as mixed cassette tapes were, but it would take a cold person to rat out a 3 yo on his bday.
Googling your question, I find general agreement on the following from http://www.macworld.com/article/2509/2001/10/rip.html:
As for whether or not it's against the law to make CD copies of music, things get a little fuzzy. Everyone--from the Recording Industry Asso-ciation of America (RIAA) to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a civil-liberties advocacy group--seems to agree on one point:
"It's perfectly legal for you to make copies of your own music for your own personal use," says Robin Gross, EFF's staff intellectual-property attorney. "It's called 'fair use.' It's your legal right to do so, even if the copyright holder doesn't want you to."
So if you want to take all your Radiohead albums, rip selected tracks from each of them, and burn a mix CD for your own use, there's nothing wrong with doing so.
But when you make a mix CD for someone else, or create a CD from music downloaded from a source such as Napster, things get tricky.
If you were to pass your Radiohead mix CD along to a friend, fair use becomes debatable. If listening to a track on that mix CD inspires the friend to run right out and buy a copy of Amnesiac , then you might have a case for it being a fair use of the material, according to the EFF. Not so fast, the RIAA counters; that Radiohead CD is legal only if you also hand over to your friend all the legally purchased Radiohead CDs you used to burn it.
The RIAA's position is unambiguous: making a mixed CD of music you own and then giving that CD to someone who does not own that music violates copyright law.
So who's right?
"There is no bright line," Gross says. "We've never had to draw the [copyright law] legality down to that level of distinction before. That's really one of the problems right now. There isn't a clear guideline as to how we're supposed to analyze. That's why it's important to pay attention to what people think. One important thing to consider is that the law should spring from society, rather than be imposed from above."
Yes, it is illegal. The royalties for your "gift" should go to the owner of the music, be it, the artist, the record company, or the estate, they are to be compensated for the enjoyment of their art.
I know we all think they make a ton of money for what they do, however, they devote their life to their career. They are entitled to the pay, even though it is just for kids to enjoy.
If you don't see it, take your art and try to market the idea. It is a ton of hard work, trial and error, and life long devotion.
I was making some cds a few years back for my daughter's friends for a party, and I got a warning on my iTunes that I was overdoing it and it was copyright infringement. The warning included a notice that my iTunes could be suspended and I could be prosecuted.
It's not that YOU are not making a profit, it ensures that the ARTISTS won't make the profit id someone is duplicating and giving away their copyrighted material.
Technically, yes, I think it's illegal.
I agree, that b/c you are distributing the music, it is illegal. On the other hand, I don't think the FED gets off on arresting mother's of a 3 year old on their birthday. Maybe I shouldn't say this, but I think you are ok to do it.
I've bought songs off of iTunes and made copies for my dancers in my dance classes to practice their dances. iTunes doesn't allow you to buy multiple coppies of a song. Buy the song once and that's it. I didn't think it is an issue with what you're talking about.
I agree with Sara, unless your making a profit I don't think it's illegal. It's like DVDs, if you show it at a party for free it's not illegal but if people pay to watch it then I believe that is illegal.
I think if you are making a cd for yourself, for personal use from music you have purchased then that is okay. It's just putting the music you bought in a different order or format.
I used to put cd's on a cassette tape so I could listen to it while running around in my van, it only uses tapes. I bought the Josh Groban cd's and then just copied over to tape for convenience not for bypassing the royalty fees.
But to make copies and then give them away is close to the edge as far as I am concerned.
it is probably technically illegal. I really doubt you would be prosicuted though. You could make a donation to the artist's foundation or charity if you want. It would be like completing the circle.
