AllofMP3 Legal Clarification

bs7

irnbru wrote:

There's a reciprical arguement that if consumers are given protection for goods bought abroad with credit cards then those purchases should be subject to the conditions of UK law.

The grounds of jurisdiction for a civil action in the UK are enshrined in statute, it's not a case of the BPI being able to argue that they can sue allofmp3.com in a court in the UK and that being accepted. The only possible way would be to argue that the place of performance of the contract was in the UK, and even if they did that the court has no power to compel them to do, or not do, anything.

JasonLVC

irnbru wrote:

There's a reciprical arguement that if consumers are given protection for goods bought abroad with credit cards then those purchases should be subject to the conditions of UK law.

Good idea, but no mileage I'm afraid. UK criminal law has nothing to do with UK finance law. Credit cards have a joint duty of liability for the debt when you puchase an item on a credit card which is why you have 'protection' and has no relevance to any other law. Also, UK consumer law is nothing to do with criminal law either. I can buy a laptop from America but I don't get any 14 day cooling off period, which I'd get if I bought from a UK website.

So the balance isn't fair after all. If I bought from a Russian site, I have to abide by Russian law/consumer law. Some websites, like Itunes USA I think will actually prevent you from accessing the website if you are from a different country. I know you can download tv shows from nbc.com, but only if you reside in the US.

jimmmyc

Dead_Eye_Jones wrote:

well of course its illegal, er.. common sense alert!

If nothing else its morally wrong, tbh I think money saving is great but you gotta draw a line at stealing surely??! Bottom line is, the artists dont get paid. Thanks all you guys using the site, my bro, a pro musician is being cheated out of money that he has worked very hard for - he has trained since he was 7 to be at the standard he is and people just dont give a f*** that they are cheating him and his family (inc 2 toddlers) out of money.



I think if its a moral crusade then you've got a lot more to worry about.
Common sense alert, we have been getting screwed by record companies for years and they have been screwing the artists too. Perhaps we should cap their earnings. Is it morally right to buy anything on the internet then or from abroad perhaps? Perhaps we should have Fair Trade downloads.

It's time this industry was sorted out and this is probably the start of it. The artic monkeys aren't complaining are they.

irnbru_2

JasonLVC wrote:

Good idea, but no mileage I'm afraid. UK criminal law has nothing to do with UK finance law.

I'm not saying it has but merely pointing out that people want protection in UK law for actions in another jurisdiction but would seek to be absolved in this case.

As Tom Morton, on Radio Scotland, pointed out yesterday - someone swallowed a press release hook, line and sinker on this issue.

mcallister1

We have used allofmp3 sometimes but only because of the limited availability and compatibility of the other sites.They are so concerned with putting safeguards around their product that it all becomes very complex. Sometimes allofmp3 is the only place you can get tracks in a reaonable format. The music industry should accept that people want to buy tracks,not steal them, but get their act together and make it easier- but they will have to accept that people will want to put tracks on more thhan one device and don't want to keep up a subscription to keep tracks.

JasonLVC

irnbru wrote:

As Tom Morton, on Radio Scotland, pointed out yesterday - someone swallowed a press release hook, line and sinker on this issue.

So very, very true. Have a nice day Irnbru.

Slothy

Oh wow, someone is being threatened with legal action. I know, they must be guilty! Let's immediately judge them, who needs evidence? Surely people must be guilty until proven innocent, that makes such sense!

Even better, if you can't deal with all that pesky competition in the marketplace, then just sue, sue, sue, and you'll finally be free to overcharge and underdeliver without worry.

alikat_3

Although I have never bought from the Russian sites myself & not sure that I would unless their were changes in the Russian copyright laws. Although saying that UK copyright law is also in need of drastic change.

What astonishes me is the utter rubish the BPI are putting out about the legality of Russian music sites, the day that the BPI actually sue this Russian music site, is the day I'll eat my CD collection.

the legality of AllofMp3 has been tested in the Russian High court. It was deemed to be legal under Russiam copyrght law. Under UK law it is legal to purchase & import digital goods to the UK, ie download MP3’s, and as such it is legal, in the UK, to buy music from AllofMp3 & American sites too, for that matter. This presumes that anything you purchase is for private use, and you no not distribute these copyrighted works without permission.

Would the BPI also make empty threats of this kind against a large company based in the US for instance, I think not.

shimmyman

alikat wrote:

the day that the BPI actually sue this Russian music site, is the day I'll eat my CD collection.

How many CD's you got?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060703/wr_nm/media_allofmp3_dc_1

Citizen_Kane_3

shimmyman wrote:

How many CD's you got?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060703/wr_nm/media_allofmp3_dc_1

Another perspective - http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/07/03/bpi_wins_right_to_sue_allofmp3/

“Of course, the UK court has no jurisdiction over Russia, so a guilty verdict is extremely unlikely to affect the site. If the case goes against AllofMP3.com, it simply establishes that it's against the law for British consumers to use the site. Proving that they do and preventing them from doing so will be very difficult indeed.”