ASA and ripping
Posted by: jon h on 30 March 2011
so the ASA has passed judgement against a device made by 3GA Ltd, which makes a box which rips and stores CDs.
“We considered the overall impression of the ad was such that it encouraged consumers and businesses to copy CDs, vinyl and cassettes,” the ASA adjudication states. “In the absence of prominent explanation, we concluded that the ad misleadingly implied it was acceptable to copy CDs, vinyl and cassettes without the permission of the copyright owner. We also considered that the ad encouraged people to use the advertised product in this way and that, therefore, it incited consumers to break the law.”
From news item on PCPro website
Jon
Contributing Editor, PCPro
I think the implications of this are immense. What about all the systems designed to rip CDs?
ATB from George
It is not illegal to rip CDs in the United Kingdom if you have permission from the copyright holder, therefore it is not the devices themselves (which are not auto-loading, by the way–a very important distinction) but the user who must adhere to the law (which is different elsewhere).
Dear David,
Thanks for the clarification. Seems like most of us are to some extent braking the law as it is in the UK in that case. My view is that so long as I keep the original CDs I have ripped, then I am effectively treating the Hard Disc as "the player" though no doubt that is not exactly compliant with the letter of the law. I cannot imagine EMI being delighted to be inundated with requests for permission to rip several hundred classical CDs ... Or DG, Philips, Decca and so on ...
Were I to dispose of the original CDs, I would feel honour-bound to delete the ripped copies from the HD.
Indeed sometimes I delete a musical performance, and then dispose of the original CD ...
ATB from George
It is not illegal to rip CDs in the United Kingdom if you have permission from the copyright holder, therefore it is not the devices themselves (which are not auto-loading, by the way–a very important distinction) but the user who must adhere to the law (which is different elsewhere).
But almost no-one has the permission of the copyright holder.
The issue is about how the devices are advertised and for what purpose. This device was advertised for ripping and storing your CDs, which ASA deemed to be bad.
Surely the point of the article is to warn about the way a product is advertised, not that the product copies music from various sources.
Check the ASA site here:http://www.asa.org.uk/ASA-action/Adjudications/2011/3/3GA-Ltd/TF_ADJ_50026.aspx
The complaint was that the Brennan JB7 ad didn't mention that you need the permission from the copyright holder.
All the've concluded, is that future ads must state that it's unlawful to copy material without the permission of the copyright owner
Mike
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Surely the point of the article is to warn about the way a product is advertised, not that the product copies music from various sources.
Check the ASA site here:http://www.asa.org.uk/ASA-action/Adjudications/2011/3/3GA-Ltd/TF_ADJ_50026.aspx
The complaint was that the Brennan JB7 ad didn't mention that you need the permission from the copyright holder.
All the've concluded, is that future ads must state that it's unlawful to copy material without the permission of the copyright owner
Mike
I seem to remember such warning on adverts for dual-deck tape player/recorders in the past...
Eloise
The law became broken the minute it became economically viable for the average person to create a mixtape using a mass market cassette machine. The arrival of the original IMac nailed another nail in the coffin of music copyright law and the rest, as they say is billable litigation.
Since, just like a book with a CD you don't own the actual artistic material itself. You have just purchased the right to play a copy of it using the shiny disk in the nasty plastic case. You have no authority to duplicate the material given to you at the point of purchase.
Your rights as a consumer are quite limited.
Don't even start to think about the legal problems that ebooks create.
There are solutions but some of them are distinctly unpalatable unless you like reading Kafka.
Tog
Or we just follow Douglas Adams and send all lawyers to another planet much better than ours :-)