[QUOTE=dauerbach]
Lets look at this another way. The Sony EULA clearly states that I am legally obligated to delete any music from an MP3 player, or my computer, should I no longer own the original discs. That is fine if I sell them, but what if they are destroyed or stolen. Or even more to the point: I still have hundreds of vinyl LP’s. It is inpractical to listen to them on a needle weilding “record player.” I would maintain that the Sony EULA implicetly allows me to download that music in a format I can actually use. If the loss of the disc releases all rights that I have to the music, then I maintain that loss of the ability, due to technology changes, to listen to what I have legally paid for allows me to obtain in an appropriate form. I am sure I would be sued in a heartbeat, if I was caught doing so however. Am I the only one who sees evil in this one way street?
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This is one area where the recording industry’s arguments have always seemed especially inconsistent and self-serving to me. When it’s convenient for the recording industry, you are buying a physical thing (an album, a disc); when it’s convenient for them in a different way, you’re merely paying for the right to play the music.
When people complain about the price of CDs, arguing that a disc only costs a few cents to make and package and distribute, the recording industry’s position has been, essentially, “Well, you’re not paying for a disc. You’re really paying for a sort of license to own that particular album. You are paying for all the time and effort of recording and engineering the album, and you are paying the artist and the studio for the creativity and work involved in producing the album. The cost of the disc itself is rather incidental.” Fair enough. All this creativity and time and effort deserves to be rewarded.
If this were really true, then surely you should only have to pay once for this license, for all the time and effort involved in writing, performing, and engineering the music.
For example, the presence of the White Stripes CD Elephant in my CD collection indicates that i have paid enough money to cover the effort of creating that album, and have earned to right to play the music as often as i want. If i happen to drop the disc into a fire, it doesn’t change the fact that i’ve paid for this right. Theoretically, if i could prove that i’ve paid full price once, i should be able to get a replacement disc for about a buck (the cost of the actual disc and packaging, with a bit left over for handling), or download the songs for free. But if my disc gets damaged, or simply deteriorates to the point where it’s no longer playable (as some CDs are starting to do), the recording industry expects me to pay full price to replace it.
Same when formats change. If you bought Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon on vinyl back in the 1970s, you’ve already paid the band and their recording label for the privilege of owning the music. Why should you have to pay the full amount again merely to change formats? Why shouldn’t you get the new format for little more than the cost of the physical material?
Of course, one argument here is that extra work has gone into the new formats. The music is often digitally remastered for CD, requiring input of time and money. Again, fair enough. But the price of buying this old music on CD is often as expensive as buying brand new material, sometimes even more expensive.
