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iPod What is the exact definition of "Piracy"? :)

yossim

yossim

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 24, 2009
156
0
Pacific Northwest
I am a little confused about what piracy is. If I were to check cd's and/or dvd's from the library and sync them to my iPod, would that be considered piracy/copyright infringement? I am on the side that it isn't, since the license agreement in iTunes says that you can put the music on up to 5 computers etc. A friend of mine though, says that it is piracy, and I could get in trouble for ripping cd's and dvd's.

Does anyone know what is piracy and what isn't?
 
The music that you purchase from iTunes is licensed for five computers in the same household (if I recall correctly). CDs are not covered by the iTunes licence, and it is indeed piracy to make copies of commercial CDs that you don't own.
 
Ok, thank you. It's a good thing I asked before ripping all the cd's at the library!

I have one more question though, is it legal to say, rip an audio book from the library to put on your iPod (to make it easier to listen) and then, once finished (listening to it), delete the audio book?
 
seriously! I'm not going to do something like that if it's wrong, or if I can get in trouble for it. I was at the library yesterday, and I asked the librarian, and she had no idea. So I came here.
 
I think ripping a CD from the library is legal as long as you only use the tracks for personal use. It's like using the photocopier at the library.

Ripping a DVD violates the DMCA, since you have to decrypt the DVD to do it.
 
bohbot16 said:
I think ripping a CD from the library is legal as long as you only use the tracks for personal use. It's like using the photocopier at the library.

Ripping a DVD violates the DMCA, since you have to decrypt the DVD to do it.
Click to expand...

So, what if you don't have to decrypt the dvd? All the dvd's that I have ripped didn't seem to have encryption. I could be wrong.
 
yossim said:
I have one more question though, is it legal to say, rip an audio book from the library to put on your iPod (to make it easier to listen) and then, once finished (listening to it), delete the audio book?
Click to expand...

This is one of those things that's technically illegal but, if you use a little common sense, seems like it should fall under Fair Use. You're not going to get caught or sued for it, so if you have no moral qualms about it (and you shouldn't, because existing Fair Use laws are bollocks) then I wouldn't sweat it.
 
Just rip the CD, it's a retarded law and I don't think anyone is ever sued for ripping a CD.. lol
 
yossim said:
seriously! I'm not going to do something like that if it's wrong, or if I can get in trouble for it. I was at the library yesterday, and I asked the librarian, and she had no idea. So I came here.
Click to expand...

haha you asked a librarian?
 
Piracy is a war-like act committed by a non-state actor, especially robbery or criminal violence committed at sea, on a river, or sometimes on shore. (From wikipedia)
Everything you are describing falls under the umbrella of copyright infringement.
 
yossim said:
I am a little confused about what piracy is.
Click to expand...
According to Article 101 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which defines “piracy”:

Piracy consists of any of the following acts:

(a) any illegal acts of violence or detention, or any act of depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or a private aircraft, and directed:

(i) on the high seas, against another ship or aircraft, or against persons or property on board such ship or aircraft;

(ii) against a ship, aircraft, persons or property in a place outside the jurisdiction of any State;

(b) any act of voluntary participation in the operation of a ship or of an aircraft with knowledge of facts making it a pirate ship or aircraft;

(c) any act of inciting or of intentionally facilitating an act described in subparagraph (a) or (b).​
 
3247 said:
According to Article 101 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which defines “piracy”:

Piracy consists of any of the following acts:

(a) any illegal acts of violence or detention, or any act of depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or a private aircraft, and directed:

(i) on the high seas, against another ship or aircraft, or against persons or property on board such ship or aircraft;

(ii) against a ship, aircraft, persons or property in a place outside the jurisdiction of any State;

(b) any act of voluntary participation in the operation of a ship or of an aircraft with knowledge of facts making it a pirate ship or aircraft;

(c) any act of inciting or of intentionally facilitating an act described in subparagraph (a) or (b).​
Click to expand...

I mean, "copyright infringement" I figured everyone here would understand what I meant.

Or are you trying to say that there is no clearly defined law regarding copyright infringement?


Maybe they just want to have the option of suing people for the time they run out of really bad guys to sue/press charges against. :p
 
yossim said:
I mean, "cyber piracy." I figured everyone here would understand what I meant.

Or are you trying to say that there is no clearly defined law regarding cyber piracy?


Maybe they just want to have the option of suing people for the time they run out of really bad guys to sue/press charges against. :p
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I think you make your life more complicated than it has to be. Basically pirating refers to stealing software/media. As for your library, there are certain dues that have been paid and no one will come after you. I mean, seriously, does this sort of act keep you up at night because you think it's pirating? Go download some torrents and then we can talk pirating.
 
GimmeSlack12 said:
I think you make your life more complicated than it has to be. Basically pirating refers to stealing software/media. As for your library, there are certain dues that have been paid and no one will come after you. I mean, seriously, does this sort of act keep you up at night because you think it's pirating? Go download some torrents and then we can talk pirating.
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That link to wiki helped a lot. From what I understood from reading the article, it was saying that it was the "Exchange of" was illegal.

The NET Act amends the definition of "commercial advantage or private financial gain" to include the exchange of copies of copyrighted works even if no money changes hands and specifies penalties of up to five years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines. It also creates a threshold for criminal liability even where the infringer neither obtained nor expected to obtain anything of value for the infringement.
Click to expand...
 
you paid for that stuff.its yours now.rip it to 530854369478 dvds,cds remove the DRM it is yours.do what ever you want
 
bohbot16 said:
I think ripping a CD from the library is legal as long as you only use the tracks for personal use. It's like using the photocopier at the library.

Ripping a DVD violates the DMCA, since you have to decrypt the DVD to do it.
Click to expand...

Both of these are still piracy as we define it. In the case of the DVD it doesn't matter whether there is encryption or not; you are still making an illegal copy.

Ripping from the CD is still an illegal copy too.

Highly unlikely they will come after you for copying CDs from the library though.
 
old-wiz said:
Both of these are still piracy as we define it. In the case of the DVD it doesn't matter whether there is encryption or not; you are still making an illegal copy.

Ripping from the CD is still an illegal copy too.

Highly unlikely they will come after you for copying CDs from the library though.
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Is the US the only country where this is illegal (ripping from the cd)?

even if I am not exchanging the data it is illegal?
 
Laws vary from country to country, but if another nation had more flexible copyright laws, then we would know about it. Maybe there are, but I wouldn't choose that as a reason to immigrate :D.

Anyways, here's how I (and some friends of mine) see it - if you own the disc, it is perfectly fine to make a digital copy to back it up. Time Warner guy sees a library of ripped music with the music in the shelves right next to the computer? All I can say is that my hard disc will wear out after the optical media does. Sure, I have Invaders Must Die, a Prodigy album on CD, but to play it on my G5 (if I want to), there is less overhead from a digital copy rather then shoving the CD in the drive. Take Me To The Hospital (The record company?) can take me to court, but their case is slightly flimsy/not worth it considering I bought the CD and still possess it.

All that I am saying is that digital backups of stuff that you own is something that you can do and have no ethical qualms about it. Just don't spam it on the internet or make excessive amounts of copies.
 
In the U.S., you can copy pages from a book with a photocopier as fair use. However, copying the entire book is NOT legal and can result in prosecution. It is still illegal to copy entire CDs or rip entire CDs.

Fair use usually means copy part of it for a quotation, not entire CDs or chapters.
 
Dr.Pants said:
t.

All that I am saying is that digital backups of stuff that you own is something that you can do and have no ethical qualms about it. Just don't spam it on the internet or make excessive amounts of copies.
Click to expand...

If you make a backup copy of your own CD/DVD and do not give it to anyone that is realistically fair use. You are not distributing and they are never going to prosecute you. This is not the same as copying CD/DVD from a library for your own use.
 
So then the next question is, are they going to know if you are copying cd's from the library (even if you don't tell them)?
 
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