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Copying a friends iTunes library

M

maw4bc

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 11, 2009
149
0
I just got my ATV for my bday so I am a little new to everything. My question is simple (hopefully).

I am wondering if it is easy to copy someone else's iTunes content (music, purchased movies, tv shows, music videos, etc.) or is the content solely theirs since they purchased it on their account?

I was hoping to just go over to his house with an external HD and transfer it.

Any help is greatly appreciated,
Mike
 
can you elaborate on that a bit? I am not familiar with that.
 
Copying somebody else`s iTunes library would be copyright theft and illegal as your friend has purchased the right to own and view the files, not to redistribute them to other people. Just something to consider.
 
each account can be authorized on 5 computers at a time.
you can copy the music files to your computer, you would then need your friends itunes password in order to unlock the music. (should only have to type it once to unlock all his songs). But at anytime, they can de-authorize all computers, and you would be locked out of that music.

Without looking at the iTunes TOS, i'm guessing this would probably be frowned upon. this is more a feature so people who have multiple computers can use their music on more than one machine.


if this person is your roommate, they can share their music over the network, and as long as their itunes is running you can play the music.
 
roidy said:
Copying somebody else`s iTunes library would be copyright theft and illegal as your friend has purchased the right to own and view the files, not to redistribute them to other people. Just something to consider.
Click to expand...

I've read the TOS and it clearly states you have the right to copy and play the music to five other computers. I didn't see where it said you had to own those computers...

A.
 
waw74 said:
each account can be authorized on 5 computers at a time.
you can copy the music files to your computer, you would then need your friends itunes password in order to unlock the music. (should only have to type it once to unlock all his songs). But at anytime, they can de-authorize all computers, and you would be locked out of that music.
Click to expand...

Won't I run into a problem considering my iTunes is synced to my username/password?
 
You may have any number of iTunes accounts permitting you have usernames and passwords. My friend essentially has an iTunes server of 70,000 songs. 10% are my iTunes, 20% his wife's, and the rest are his account.
 
Alrescha said:
I've read the TOS and it clearly states you have the right to copy and play the music to five other computers. I didn't see where it said you had to own those computers...

A.
Click to expand...



http://www.apple.com/legal/itunes/us/terms.html

9. User Account and Security.

a. Account and Password. As a registered user of the Service, you may receive or establish an account ("Account"). You are solely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality and security of your Account. You should not reveal your Account information to anyone else or use anyone else's Account. You are entirely responsible for all activities that occur on or through your Account, and you agree to immediately notify Apple of any unauthorized use of your Account or any other breach of security. Apple shall not be responsible for any losses arising out of the unauthorized use of your Account.
Click to expand...

Meaning you dont use anyone else`s account. And inorder to give someone your library you would also need to give them access to your account.

Usage Rules

(ii) You shall be authorized to use the Products only for personal,noncommercial use.
Click to expand...

For personal use only not to give away to complete strangers.

(vii) You shall be entitled to export, burn (if applicable) or copy (if applicable) Products solely for personal, noncommercial use.
Click to expand...

Copy products solely for personal use, again not to give away to your friends because then it is nolonger for your personal use.

Come on use a bit of common sense, of course you carn`t just buy a movie or music from the iTunes store and then expect to be able to give copys away to all your friends. I`ll tell you what why don`t you give apple a phone call and tell them you want to start giving away there content and see how happy they are.
 
roidy said:
Copy products solely for personal use, again not to give away to your friends because then it is nolonger for your personal use.

Come on use a bit of common sense, of course you carn`t just buy a movie or music from the iTunes store and then expect to be able to give copys away to all your friends. I`ll tell you what why don`t you give apple a phone call and tell them you want to start giving away there content and see how happy they are.
Click to expand...

dude noncomercial use just means that you cannot use it to make money. he can give it up to 5 of his friends. im sure if he called apple and told them what he was doing they would say ok you can only do that 4 more times. they put that feature in there so you can share your music. and that is what he is doing.
 
ViciousShadow21 said:
dude noncomercial use just means that you cannot use it to make money. he can give it up to 5 of his friends. im sure if he called apple and told them what he was doing they would say ok you can only do that 4 more times. they put that feature in there so you can share your music. and that is what he is doing.
Click to expand...

Usage Rules

(ii) You shall be authorized to use the Products only for personal,noncommercial use.
Click to expand...

The point is not about noncomercial use, its about personal use. Meaning for use by the account holder only. So no he carn`t give it to 5 of his friends because then it is not for his own personal use anymore.

(iii) You shall be authorized to use the Products on five Apple-authorized devices at any time, except in the case of Movie Rentals, as described below.
Click to expand...

"You" meaning the account holder, not the account holders friends.

The 5 computer feature is there so you can use it on 5 of your own devices not your own computer and 4 of your friends. It clearly states in the TOS not to give anyone else access to your account, which is what you would need to do inorder to give someone else a copy of your library.
 
roidy said:
The 5 computer feature is there so you can use it on 5 of your own devices not your own computer and 4 of your friends. It clearly states in the TOS not to give anyone else access to your account, which is what you would need to do inorder to give someone else a copy of your library.
Click to expand...

his friend could just come over type in his user name and password. that way he wouldnt have to give him his user information.
 
People, this is illegal, flat out. You can not legally share your music with other people, unless you own the copyright, which I highly doubt.

I am a professional photographer, and the same thing goes. If someone uses an image of mine without permission, they violated the copyright and I have every right to pursue legal action.

Sharing music is theft, period.
 
Boise Jim your wasting your time, some people think that because they have payed for their music or movies it then gives them the right to start handing it out to anyone they want.
 
Boise Jim said:
People, this is illegal, flat out. You can not legally share your music with other people, unless you own the copyright, which I highly doubt.

I am a professional photographer, and the same thing goes. If someone uses an image of mine without permission, they violated the copyright and I have every right to pursue legal action.

Sharing music is theft, period.
Click to expand...

Then why are programs such as lime wire allowed to exist? P2P is legal by the way.
 
ViciousShadow21 said:
Then why are programs such as lime wire allowed to exist? P2P is legal by the way.
Click to expand...

Lime wire is allowed to exist because by the very nature of how P2P works its impossible to shut down. And yes P2P is legal but only if you own the rights to the files or have permision to share the files. ViciousShadow21 do they not have copyright laws in Croatia. In the UK and the US and 99% of other countries in the world it is illegal to share any copyrighted material eg Movies or Music, without the permision of the copyright holder. Why do think there are so many news stories from the USA and UK about the music and movie industry suing people for sharing files using both P2P and torrents.
 
Shadow-
roidy beat me to the punch. Out of curiosity, are the copyright laws different in Croatia? Personally, I would be very surprised if it is different.

In the US, P2P file sharing of copyrighted material is very illegal.

Trust me, someone ripped me off and I learned a lot about copyright laws.
 
Boise Jim said:
Shadow-
roidy beat me to the punch. Out of curiosity, are the copyright laws different in Croatia? Personally, I would be very surprised if it is different.

In the US, P2P file sharing of copyrighted material is very illegal.

Trust me, someone ripped me off and I learned a lot about copyright laws.
Click to expand...

haha sorry guys i am not living in Croatia. i am currently living in Boston. sorry for the confusion. my family is from Croatia.

anyway, thinking that i was wrong, which is known to happen :rolleyes:, i called Apple to get their input on the situation. I spoke to a nice women named Crystal. I approached it from the first person. i asked her if authorizing my friend's computer after giving him my music was an okay thing to do? She said that while this is not what they designed that feature for that it is a common practice and that they receive calls about all the time. She said that it is ok as long as i dont give it more than 5 ppl (this is possible by burning the Protected ACC files to an audio disc and then importing them back in to iTunes, hope i dont get in trouble for that). She said that this is essentially sharing music and they find that it encourages ppl to go out and buy more tunes by that same artist or similar artists. this is why they have come to accept it.

but i do want to point out that i think that this is a very dumb way to share music. because at anytime your music can be de-authorized by the original user. also if you get a new computer you will have to go through the whole process again. this may prove difficult if you or the original user has moved for example.

@OP
while it seems that this is ok with apple to do i do not believe that it is a very efficient way. like i said above your music will always be at risk of becoming useless.
 
To expand on what Cromulent said, it won't be Apple dragging you to court to sue you for $7000 per song shared, so go ahead and take their advice. Just don't expect Steve Jobs filing an Amicus brief on your behalf.

And, also, if I followed a poster's logic concerning the legality of Limewire and P2P, then marijuana is also legal. After all, alot of people do it, and it's pretty pervasive and public nowadays (not that I want this conversation to descend into the benefits of cannabis)...
 
roidy said:
Meaning you dont use anyone else`s account. And inorder to give someone your library you would also need to give them access to your account.
Click to expand...

Not entirely accurate. You need to authorize their computer, they don't need to know your account information on an ongoing basis. Apple's use of the word 'should' is just trying to get people to protect their userid and password appropriately.

For personal use only not to give away to complete strangers.
Click to expand...

Thanks for muddying the waters. No-one was talking about complete strangers.

Copy products solely for personal use, again not to give away to your friends because then it is nolonger for your personal use.
Click to expand...

If we take your definition of 'solely for personal use', then that would mean that the wife and kids are not allowed to have access either. I think that you would agree that would be silly. The situation is not as black and white as you would like to make it.

Come on use a bit of common sense, of course you carn`t just buy a movie or music from the iTunes store and then expect to be able to give copys away to all your friends.
Click to expand...

And again, nobody was saying 'all your friends' or 'complete strangers'. The iTunes Store gives you an *explicit* license to copy music to five different computers plus your other devices (iPods, iPhones, Apple TV, etc.). One could argue that 'personal friends' meets the requirement of 'personal use' in the same way that wives and children do.

A.
 
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