Is It Unethical to Rip CD's?
 

I work in a library. I could check out CD's over and over and over. Or, I could buy them. Or I could rip them. Which is the best and/or right thing to do in your opinion??

Re: Is It Unethical to Rip CD's?
 

According to the copyright laws.

You can RIP CDs you have bought to play on your MP3 player so long as you don't give/sell them to anyone else.

I buy my songs online at iTunes.

I don't have an iPod but convert them to MP3s.

Like everyone else I do have Songs I obtained by 'other' means but they are few seeing the low audio quality and potential virus infestation have deterred me from that course of procuring them.

All media can be copied by the license holder for archive reasons only.

We used to record our vinyl to tape and place the records in storage till something happened to the tapes.

I have done duplication and document creation for about 12 years now and these questions come up all the time.

Re: Is It Unethical to Rip CD's?
 

In Canada, the Supreme Court ruled that "file sharing" is not "illegal" & the Federal Government to offer a balance to "possible" not "definite" but "possible" copyright infringement & any loss of income, instituted a .29 cent levy on every blank recording media.

That means that every blank, CD, DVD,& Cassete, has a levy that gets sent to a recording fund where artists who are registered there get the money.

It is just very similar to how Radio Stations operate.

Re: Is It Unethical to Rip CD's?
 

Rip CDs? Have you actually tried it? I did. They don't rip. They break. Now... a piece of paper... that will rip. CDs don't rip.

Re: Is It Unethical to Rip CD's?
 

I have friends who are professional singers/musicians, and it is a sore spot with me when folks want to borrow a CD or DVD to copy rather than purchase it themselves.

A man I work with a man boldly tells that he goes to the video store, rents the movie to record, takes it back, then prints a label...he has even given them to folks on the job.

My brother ordered season four of The Big Valley (60s tv program) on Ebay, only to find that it had been recorded from the Hallmark Channel...people are a trip!!

Your question/concern over what is ethical re this is a good one...wish everyone had the same thought.

Re: Is It Unethical to Rip CD's?
 

check them out and listen to them or buy your own then rip them

Re: Is It Unethical to Rip CD's?
 

Does not illegal apply to copy protected material? That would be odd to do that then mention copy protected material and a levy...seems a tacit admission by the Canadian court that they just legalized something immoral or unethical.

Re: Is It Unethical to Rip CD's?
 

It is illegal to do as you described.

Re: Is It Unethical to Rip CD's?
 

Well, we have Canadian Artists going to Court on behalf of Fans who have downloaded material "illegally" & are being sued by the Record Labels.
I believe it is an admission that there is no closing the Barn door after the cows have been let out so to speak.

Most Artists agree that not jumping on the internet bandwagon & offering individual songs for sale instead of giving a reason for Napster originally was missing the boat.

I hear even some Artists are giving thier records away for "free!"

Most Artists income today comes from touring.

As someone once said, "once it is on the internet, it is out there forever!"

Personally, I would like them to clamp down on Internet Porn & kiddie Porn myself.

Re: Is It Unethical to Rip CD's?
 

I must confess, I download cds all the time. There are several websites and blogs that have cds posted with links for their download. I do not however upload cds to be downloaded by other people. The government and business do go after these sites with lawsuits but there are too many of them. I think the government wants everyone to get connected to the internet and does not actively pursue copyright infringement.