In theory, couldn’t I just borrow any music cd’s from the library, rip the songs onto my pc, and then transfer them to my iPhone? Lather, rinse repeat? Or is that illegal if it is possible?
You sure can. If you brag about it on the internet you might even get an angry letter or two.
It’s a copyright violation. You do not have the right to copy the music without permission.
Whether anyone will call you on them is another issue.
Librarian here.
So so so very illegal. Most likely also specifically against the rules attached to the library card you signed up for.
I’m not saying anything else.
Maybe the library gave him permission. It’s their CD. If my friend wanted to borrow my CD and rip it up, I suppose I might give him permission, too.
I knew a lot of people who did this in college!
I always meant to use my college’s music library CDs to obtain the most awesomest free classical music collection on the face of the non-professional-musician universe. Sadly, I wasn’t dedicated enough to the theft to get it done. Sad.
About a year ago, the last time I perused the CDs and DVDs at a library branch, it would have had to pay people to borrow them, let alone copy them. Pottery Making in Norway[sup]©[/sup] type stuff.
Legally, you’re only allowed to make electronic copies of IP that you already own. Checking out CDs from a library doesn’t confer ownership of them to the borrower. However, there is no way to tell when a particular CD has been ripped. Unless you brag about it or share the ripped files via torrent websites, nobody’s going to know.
I’m always surprised that the RIAA hasn’t gone after librairies. I mean, they go after grannies because their kid’s kid downloaded a few songs.
It is both possible and illegal.
They own the physical CD. They do not own the music recorded on the CD. Hence, they cannot legally give permission to copy it (and neither can you).
MODERATOR NOTE
digs. Your reply adds nothing to answer the question and is more suited to the Pit or IMHO.
samclem, moderator
I always assumed this was the only reason libraries had popular music CDs and the only reason people checked them out. I mean, does anyone check out a CD, listen to it for a week and then say, “Gee, I should really spend $15 and purchase this music legally”?
It’s impossible for them to catch you and they lose so much more money from digital piracy that I doubt they care about library copies. Besides, after the Patriot Act, didn’t public libraries stop keeping records about patrons’ borrowing history, to avoid having to turn that info over to the Feds?
Yup, some of us do. Or more likely buy the one or two songs we like via iTunes.
Philadelphia Free Library has a deal with Sony that allows cardholders 3 free downloads per week from the catalogue of music provided by Sony. The catalogue tends toward newer Top 40-type stuff, but some of the older stuff is pretty good.
Is that Freegal? My library has that service, too.
You could also borrow textbooks and photocopy them.
Why don’t they just listen to the 90 second samples on iTunes?
Because I like to listen to whole albums end-to-end for a bit to get a feel for the music.
The only stuff I ever downloaded illegally was stuff that wasn’t available. When Amazon and other such sites became bigger and became legitimate I started finding those things for sale as CDs and I would buy them. Now I am just purchasing mp3 files and skipping the CD altogether. If I want or need a CD, I can just burn one.
Only thing that ticks me off is all those CDs I ripped in wmp Lossless. that don’t seem to play on anything but a pc with windows.
Sure it’s possible, but if you want to obtain music illegally there are far more efficient methods.