Am I doing something illegal? Libary downloads

[TrueDave]

I love the library. Its two blocks away and I can order just about anything from thier catalog. And they carry graphic novels !!!! $50 for Jack Kirbys "The Demon" ? No way , I'll just order it from the card catalog.
In the past couple of weeks my wife and I have copied 7 days worth of albums onto the computer from discs we borrowed.
I'm not going to sell them etc. but man, when I think about how much my friends have spent on thier cd collections I feel crimminal.

Wish Toys R Us had a Lending program like this. :-)

[Brazoo]

Technically you're copying copyright protected material - which is illegal. But:

A) you're not distributing it - so I don't see how you'd ever get caught.

B) those companies made their money off that material several times over by now.

Personally, I wouldn't loose any sleep over it!

[cjefferys]

I remember borrowing KISS LPs from the local library when I was a kid, and copying them onto 8-track tapes.

As Brazoo says, technically illegal, but near impossible to get caught unless you start distributing copies or something. And here in Canada, I don't even think it's technically illegal (yet), as we pay an extra tax on blank CDs that goes to artist royalties just for this reason. (oddly, that tax doesn't apply to blank DVDs or BDs though).

[Brazoo]

I remember borrowing KISS LPs from the local library when I was a kid, and copying them onto 8-track tapes.

As Brazoo says, technically illegal, but near impossible to get caught unless you start distributing copies or something. And here in Canada, I don't even think it's technically illegal (yet), as we pay an extra tax on blank CDs that goes to artist royalties just for this reason. (oddly, that tax doesn't apply to blank DVDs or BDs though).

Haha - Yeah - it's incredible! After years and thousands if not millions in court the record companies got that tax applied to CDs just in time for DVDs and MP3 players to really take off!

Any wonder why people think the record industry is always technologically way behind the times?

From my faulty memory: didn't the Canadian record distributers try to sue individual music downloaders but the cases got thrown out? And didn't the US suits actually find the downloaders legally culpable? Or am I getting that backwards?

[jimsmegos]

It's illegal. But honestly it's just the way it is these "internet" days. Considering the ease of use when it comes to the most standard PC to rip/copy/burn music, dvd's, photo's and text I personally am perplexed at the future for creators in those mediums. Being one I gotta say I think we're screwed when it comes to recorded media. The only cash to be made IMO will come from live performance / presentations.

[jp1969]

I remember borrowing KISS LPs from the local library when I was a kid, and copying them onto 8-track tapes.

8 track copies eh?
We must have grown up in the same time-zone.

[huedell]

As Brazoo says, technically illegal, but near impossible to get caught unless you start distributing copies or...

...announcing it publically on the Internet.

[johnmiic]

Well I'm sure Jack Kirby is spinning in his grave.

[jp1969]

Well I'm sure Jack Kirby is spinning in his grave.

Have at ye,ye pirate yee!

[Adam West]

I struggle with this issue big time. I'm really against bootlegs and copying free material because I feel like the artist deserves to be paid.

With that said, I do borrow books that were purchased and read by others and have problems drawing the line between borrowing a "physical" item such as a book or something in digital format. I really have no answers but I must admit it has been hard to forgo the Batman TV series by purchasing it on bootleg.

[Brazoo]

Well I'm sure Jack Kirby is spinning in his grave.

Perfect!

[Brazoo]

There is one particular comic book publishing company who I have very little to no sympathy for because of the quality of their very expensive reprint collections.

I hate reading off a computer screen - but when my choice is illegally downloading free scans from original printed sources, or paying A LOT of money for reproductions I absolutely hate - I feel like I'm left without a real option.

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

Yes, what you're doing is very illegal. And yes, your chance of getting caught is pretty low. (Unless you're putting it online.)

>I feel like I'm left without a real option.

That's a common attitude. Unfortunately, the owners can do what they want with their properties and you don't really have any sort of legal recourse. I've seen this sort of thing get real weird.... with fans feeling like they have a right to the works.... which they don't. I've seen folks feeling like they've righted some great injustice by spreading copies across the internets. Huge, rambling tirades.... Worse than ANYTHNG we've ever had here.

It's an interesting effect. You sew interest in your stuff, and then see it go all frankenstein like that....

>I remember borrowing KISS LPs from the local library when I was a kid, and copying them onto 8-track tapes.

Wow. It's like you're punishing yourself for breaking the law....

Don C.

[Brazoo]

>I feel like I'm left without a real option.

That's a common attitude. Unfortunately, the owners can do what they want with their properties and you don't really have any sort of legal recourse. I've seen this sort of thing get real weird.... with fans feeling like they have a right to the works.... which they don't. I've seen folks feeling like they've righted some great injustice by spreading copies across the internets. Huge, rambling tirades.... Worse than ANYTHNG we've ever had here.

It's an interesting effect. You sew interest in your stuff, and then see it go all frankenstein like that....

I'm not saying the owners can't do what they want - and I'm pretty sure I can argue my points without getting weird. (Well, I might be weird, but I don't think I'll be weird the same way you meant.)

Legally, I totally agree with you. Morally, I agree IF the publisher keeps their material available. In this case they haven't done that.

The version of the work that's currently available deviates significantly from the original material - which is historically and culturally significant - which is my whole complaint.

So, the only way I can read the original material is by buying back issues, or borrowing them - and I honestly don't see how reading scans is different than borrowing. Morally I think a majority of people agree with that.

Let's talk about my other option for a second - let's say I buy a back issue: The core of the argument is that the publisher owns the copyright - so if I download scans of back issues it's unfair to the publisher because I'm not paying them money - right?

Well, if I legally buy these back issues the publisher gets nothing too, so, how is it legal or moral to resell these books (usually for hundreds if not thousands more than their original values) without giving the publisher a percentage too? After all, the value of the physical book is still based on the copyrighted material printed on it - right?

I believe this kind of ambiguity is the reason people are so ambivalent towards copyright laws right now. The legal system wants to protect digital material as property - without the benefits of tangible property - and most people don't see the difference. I don't.

[Mr.Krusher]

YES it is ILLEGAL...sheeesh!! ...So is tearing off that little manufacturer's tag from your mattress!! I'll prepare a cot for you in Charlie Manson's cell, eh?



Seriously though, I have mixed feelings I suppose. I didnt know ANYthing about this 'download' or 'burn' business before I met my wife, aside from a couple of Beatles sets that I bought in the North End. (Boston) I had always thought that the 'fake' sets that I'd see in the mercados, flea markets, and Chinatowns were made by some kind of illicit 'pros' that had thousands of dollars worth of computers and printers! She 'burns' almost all of her music, but we also have hundreds of original DVDs, so its hard to say..... Do I have 'burned' copies of The A-Team Movie and Walking Dead episodes? Yup. Do I have original DVDs of Soylent Green and Hunter Prey? Yup. I just assumed that we are 'normal', and that 90% of the folks that enjoy films and music do the same - ?