# The RIAA

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-riaa/173041>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 4, 2003, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-riaa/173041 "2003-05-04T16:56:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Barney111](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@Barney111](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barney111)\
**Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-riaa/173041/21 "2003-05-06T00:22:47Z")

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**RealityChuck** said:  
_Read the law before you say “bull.”_ AND  
_Not according to copyright law. Copyright is the right to have copies. Unless you have the copyright, or have been granted permission by the copyright holder, you don’t have the right to make copies. It’s as simple as that._

I will say “bull”. The law (shown below BTW) has generally held that a consumer has a right to protect his/her investment by making an archival copy of any media he/she has legally purchased.

Many media publishers are trying to end-run this by instituting copy-protection and then making overriding the protection illegal.

**Sec. 107. - Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use**

Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include -

(1)

the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;

(2)

the nature of the copyrighted work;

(3)

the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and

(4)

the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors

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**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\
**Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-riaa/173041/22 "2003-05-06T00:32:51Z")

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Format shifting–copying a song from one format to another, e.g. from a CD to a tape or an MP3–is generally accepted as fair use.

> [@](#):
>
> [http://www.eff.org/IP/eff\_fair\_use\_faq.html](http://www.eff.org/IP/eff_fair_use_faq.html) (emphasis added)
> 
> Although the legal basis is not completely settled, many lawyers believe that the following (and many other uses) are also fair uses:  
> Space-shifting or format-shifting - that is, taking content you own in one format and putting it into another format, for personal, non-commercial use. **For instance, “ripping” an audio CD (that is, making an MP3-format version of an audio CD that you already own) is considered fair use by many lawyers, based on the 1984 Betamax decision and the 1999 Rio MP3 player decision (RIAA v. Diamond Multimedia, 180 F. 3d 1072, 1079, 9th Circ. 1999.)**

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