What do people do with their cds?

Hi Keano,

I am keeping them, though I do not own a CD player anymore, I just like to watch them sometimes, read the inlays or just go through the titles. Furthermore, in case a ever, ever need a backup-of-backup etc, I still got my cd's to rip :-)

Iver

Ditto Iver. I coulndt part with mine.

+1

I have kept mine but have thrown away the cases and just archived the disks and inlays in some CD storage albums - which frees up a lot of space.  They are just some form of backup now, although I do find that after a period of no new purchases for a couple of years I am accumulating more CDs as it is cheaper to buy/rip used ones than to download them.

The info function on the ipad n-stream application shows the way forward for replacing the inlay, although there is a little more that could be done with it to give artwork & lyrics.  The basic concept that Naim have implemented is very good indeed.

The basic concept is excellent. The implementation is rubbish. Early days I suppose.

If I sold my CDs I should by rights delete the ripped files. But my CD collection, like my archived LP collection is valuable to me for a number of reasons so a shelf at a time it's being boxed and put away. We can use the space but there's no question of getting rid of the originals. Having them also ensures that if for whatever reason we had to rip them all again, we could.

As above - we've ended up with more new CDs since we started streaming than we had bought for some years previously. 

I think I'll pack my CDs away and make a back up. Is also a little unsure about selling all my CDs but maybe at some point sell someone and then keep only those who mean a lot to me

Keano - you'll be breaking the law if you sell CDs but retain the rips.  Unlikely you'd ever get found out, but...

There was a time when artwork and liner notes meant something; when the physicality of holding an album sleeve and slowly dropping the hard earned vinyl onto the platter was part of the process. 

The CD with it dreadful jewel case and pitiful booklet that you knew would almost certainly never go back into its slot without ripping gave us progress.

Now we have digital payback and it is time to move on.

I gave my LPs to Oxfam where they made a lot of money for the right people. Soon it will be time for the CDs.

Only forward.

Tog

And then your theft will be their gain.

With luck, if this keeps up, there will be no more musicians earning a living and we can just exchange rips of Dark Side of the Moon.

+1 (Ultimate recourse after the two separate HDD backups)

Also gradually ripping favourite Vinyl but also keeping the originals as per law.

My cd's are all in the cellar -- my collection is small compared to most, just 200 or so.  Getting rid of the jewel cases is not a bad idea.  

The little booklets . . . I guess they can go.  Like everyone else I loved album art and liner notes, but those darn boolets are just too small for me to read in the dim light of my living room.  Grrrr.

Boxed up and kept - jewel cases, notes and all... 2 reasons: Personal integrity & It's an ultimate backup.

+1 on that. I've still also got all the vinyl I purchased over the years.

What an odd response? You make a very big assumption there young duck!

The LPs were unripped so how exactly do the musicians lose out?

Certainly not from the enlightened bands whose music I pay to download like "Hey "Rosetta" or "We are the City"

Will Pink Floyd suffer if I give a CD of "Wish you Were Here" to Oxfam?

My point was more akin to avoiding any false sentimentality regarding the silver diskies rather than encouraging piracy.

Tut, tut

Tog

They're in boxes in the crawl space under the house.

Then you made your point exceedingly poorly.

My comment was on the passing on of the CDs.

Once these pass out of your ownership you should erase any rips you have made from them (I assume you have ripped these).

Yes Pink Floyd will possibly suffer as you will own a copy of their music and someone else will have a copy of their music - but have paid Oxfam for it.

You may consider this (Pink Floyd/Oxfam) to be a good thing but it is theft and you should be honest about it.

+1 for Adam's post.  He's absolutely right.

When you buy a copyright recording, you do not buy the recording, but only the right to use it. The original CD or LP, if it is ripped, is your licence to use the copyright recording. 

You cannot sell or give away the original LP or CD - unless its copyright has elapsed - if you have retained a copy of it in any form, from reel to reel tape, compact cassette, or digital "rip" copy, without breaking copyright and the law of the land. 

It is a matter of conscience whether any individual feels comfortable with this breech of the law. I personally am not, and would not condone it either.

ATB from George

Gavin & Adams post +1

Same for me, but theyre in the cellar. Too many years of my life wrapped up in them to let them go!

I mainly misplace mine. At some point I will get a decent server and streamer. Then it is in the boxes for mine as well.

It's an interesting discussion - we all love music, yet some of us are prepared to starve the original artists of the revenue stream that makes more great music possible.... I know the 'fat cat' record labels take an unfair share, and some see depriving these as an act of communal goodness, but at the end of the day it's the guy with a guitar and a great voice that loses out. I certainly hope more original artists start mastering their own material with care and attention and making it available for download in hi-def from their own web sites and we are prepared to pay a fair price for their services...  'nuff said.

Sigh - once more then...

At no point did my post recommend or suggest or indeed  infer that one should throw ones integrity to the wind by ripping and disposing of ones silver disky collection.

At the moment my collection resides in some cardboard boxes gathering dust.

My point, poorly made or otherwise, was that everything moves on.

However, since some people have their respective integrities on display, scruples set to stun and the moral highground fully occupied I will of course endeavour to express myself more carefully in future.

In the meantime, I would suggest that if I did give my collection to Oxfam - and made no personal gain  from the transaction - I might, and I stress might, not lose any sleep at all or sacrifice any feeling of misplaced self-righteousness. I might instead wish Oxfam all the best and hope they spend the money  well.

Interesting conundrum though.

Tog

Ripping in the US is, technically speaking, still illegal.  That's the position of RIAA's lawyers.  CDs and records and downloads are copyrighted material, and the recording companies have not granted explicit permission for individuals to make either analog or digital copies.  

RIAA argues that the 1992 Audio Home Recording Act does not give any form of blanket coverage for so-called "personal use" copying, despite popular belief.  Practically speaking, few (if any) people believe RIAA will take an individual to court over ripping their CDs, but in theory they certainly could do so.  To date, there are simply no precedents - no case law - that could be used to predict the result of such a law suit.  The limits of "personal use" are not perfectly defined.

So, ethics aside, it is still a much safer legal position to retain and store your CD's.  If RIAA were to attempt to make an example of someone, it would likely be someone who could not prove the rips were either 1) not for personal use, or 2) did not come from a CD that the person actually owned.   Producing the CDs themselves would, I imagine, be one way of proving ownership...

Now correct me if I am wrong, but isn't it explicitly illegal to rip CDs in the UK? I don't believe there is any similar kind of statue as AHRA, is there?  And I don't believe that Naim is indemnifying all US and HDX owners, are they?  

IMHO, deleting your rips upon sale (or donation) of your CDs is the right thing to do.  If it someday saves you from a law suit, then that's even better. Here is another what-if to consider...

Let's say your CD collection was destroyed in a fire, but you kept a digital copy on a hard drive somewhere off-site.  I would think that if you could prove 1) the CDs were actually destroyed (using a Police or Fire Department report), and 2) that the CDs were purchased legally (but who keeps all their sales receipts?), then you might have a case for legally retaining the rips.   

Hook

PS - @Tog - I think your heart Is in the right place -- you want Oxfam to benefit from your charity.  But even so, if you keep the rips, the end result is two people owning one copy of the CD.  Just because your intent is honorable, it does not make the end result either legal or ethical.  Sorry pal, but there is no conundrum here.  If you keep the rips, then you are, in effect, stealing copies of the CDs.  Could you sleep at night after donating a stolen car to Oxfam?

PPS - For the record, all of my music was purchased, and all of my CDs are stored in boxes in the basement.   Since I don't have all of my sales receipts, I think I am going to photograph all of my boxes of CDs, and maybe even all of their front covers, however many at a time I can squeeze in to one shot on a table top.  It's the only way I can think of to prove ownership in case they are all destroyed. I can then store the photos on the same "off-site" hard drive that holds my FLAC files.  It's a thought anyway...