How do I copy/burn mp3 music from my PC onto CDs

usignuolo

Well clearly the law is not well understood if even direct.gov.uk is giving out advice which some parties here say is wrong.

Let's go back to my original point. I have some .wma format music tracks, quite legally bought and downloaded from napster onto my Pc (bought and paid for). I can listen to these with Windows MP. I also have some mp3 files quite legally downloaded onto my pc (using a digital subscription to a music magazine (Paste), set up quite specifically to enable artists to make available new music for fans like me.)

Recently due to problems with trying to watch video using the inadequate player provided with my dell desktop, I changed over to VLC player, but it seems I cannot listen to the WMA tracks I have as VLC cannot read these.

This all seems like a big mess to me. I would be much more sympathetic if I thought the artists were getting a decent cut. Yet apparently in many cases they get less from the sale of a digital track or album than from a CD.

My son was a very early user of an Ipod and he loaded a large amount of his record collection onto it. I take it this was illegal too. I asssume all the ipod collections out there are illegal.

Mostly it seems a conspiracy to force users to pay twice for the same material in order to listen to it on new digital devices. The same conspiracy is at work on Youtube where a lot of music videos are no longer available. So now they cannot be seen by anyone. What is the point of that.

The_Grandmaster

Although there's mention of apple tax on that article, surely by selling ipods or any other mp3 player that is technically aiding a crime, which is also illegal?

Does that mean all shops selling mp3 players (department stores, supermarkets, shops, music shops... list continues) are also breaking the law?

And tape = cassette tape (and that's the correct original nickname in the country that invented the walkman!)

usignuolo

Originally you could copy tapes from CDs on your music centre so long as it was understood it was for your own use only. Didn't stop people copying tapes to play on their walkmans or in the car or swapping mix tapes.

Fast forward 20 or so years and having invented new portable devices for us to listen to music, the music industry saw a chance to charge us twice for the same music. Plus they said if you want to listen to your music on our new device, you must pay again for it AND we'll make sure you can't listen to the music on anyone else's portable device either. Technically forcing users to have to buy your product in this way is a lock in and can in some circumstances be challenged under fair trade rules, in the states at least.

In the case of digital downloads, artists get even less in royalties than they do from CDs. It is all a conspiracy for the benefit of the management and shareholders of record companies and music technology companies.

weegie.geek

The music industry is really shooting itself in the foot these days. They're creating such bad feeling among their customers, the artists and the retailers.

The government doesn't do us any favours either. There should be no problem with copying a CD onto your MP3 player. You're not copying it for someone else. You're not avoiding paying for it. You're using something you've paid for in a way that's convenient for you.

If they're going to criminalise what you do with something you've paid money for, is it any wonder more and more people just choose to download from less than legitimate sources? If they're gonna treat you like a criminal anyway...

lucylucky

The_Grandmaster wrote: »

Although there's mention of apple tax on that article, surely by selling ipods or any other mp3 player that is technically aiding a crime, which is also illegal? Not at all as you can load your own mp3s onto the device

Does that mean all shops selling mp3 players (department stores, supermarkets, shops, music shops... list continues) are also breaking the law? Er... no

And tape = cassette tape (and that's the correct original nickname in the country that invented the walkman!) tape does not equal cassette tape

What "nickname" did you mean?

esuhl

usignuolo wrote: »

Recently due to problems with trying to watch video using the inadequate player provided with my dell desktop, I changed over to VLC player, but it seems I cannot listen to the WMA tracks I have as VLC cannot read these.

Windows Media Player should play the tracks, or alternatively you could try Media Player Classic (which is a cut-down version of Windows Media Player based on an earlier version).

usignuolo wrote: »

My son was a very early user of an Ipod and he loaded a large amount of his record collection onto it. I take it this was illegal too. I asssume all the ipod collections out there are illegal.

It is illegal to digitise a record collection. Not all iPod collections are necessarily illegal, however. Music purchased in the relevant format (i.e. a format that isn't ripped or transcoded) is fine, as is copyright-free music, or if you have the copyright-holder's consent. I have some mates in a band who are happy for me to listen to their tunes on my MP3 player, so that's okay.

usignuolo wrote: »

Mostly it seems a conspiracy to force users to pay twice for the same material in order to listen to it on new digital devices. The same conspiracy is at work on Youtube where a lot of music videos are no longer available. So now they cannot be seen by anyone. What is the point of that.

It's not a conspiracy that the law was written as it was - it's a sign of the times. The fact that the law has not been rapidly refined to reflect the existence of MP3s is a sign that our political system is out-dated. Instead of relying on an old-fashined system where a handful of MPs act on our behalf because we are mostly illiterate and unable to communicate our opinions, we should embrace modern technology and implement a parliamentary system in which we have a voice. The only voice I have is a single vote every few years. Imagine if I could table a proposal to amend copyright law, everyone could vote on it (via the web, mobile phone or whatever) and we could enact it without the help of any MPs at all! All we'd need are the civil servants. Of course, why would those in power choose to relinquish it to the masses, eh?

As regards the videos removed from You Tube... it's simply because You Tube doesn't pay royalties. Why should a copyright-holder permit their work to appear on You Tube if they aren't getting paid?

weegie.geek

MPC isn't based on WMP, it was just designed to look like it. It's a great app though, and I'd recommend it over WMP any day.

The MP3 situation is silly, but most people follow what they believe to be morally right, not the law. I can't imagine anyone being successfully prosecuted for transferring a shop-bought CD into itunes and onto their ipod. I'd like to think common sense would come into play, but you never know.

I'd love to see a day where there was true granular democracy, but I can't help but be a little afraid of the results. How many people believe in, say, homeopathy? Just because a lot of people believe something doesn't make it right, or real. In theory, we elect people best suited to put across our views. The reality of that is perhaps a bit different, but I believe a large percentage of the population shouldn't be trusted with that kind of responsibility. Of course, neither should a large percentage of the MPs...

marleyboy

Converting music you have purchased to another format is NOT illegal, its no more illegal than recording a television programme to watch later.

What becomes illegal, is the passing on of copied music to somebody else. When you buy an MP3,WMA or Audio track, whatever format it is in, it becomes your property, whilst in your possession, you are free to do with it what you wish, so long as you do not pass it on.

When you buy your "copy" of Windows it comes on a disk, you install it onto your system, this involves decompressing and converting the data in accordance with the computer, in effect, were conversion illegal as suggested, it would become "illegal" to install your windows disk onto your computer.

All digital data from Software to Music, can be converted, manipulated, mixed, compiled or edited, so long as it is exclusively for the owners convenience and not given out, it becomes illegal only when its reproduced format is passed on.

Imagine a CD player becoming an illegal device, just because it reconverts the digital data, so that it can be played via your amplifier through to your speakers.

I have an enormous Vynil collection, which I have subsequently converted to MP3, literally thousands of albums or 12 inches that took me Months to convert, all to make it more convenient for me to listen to them, as well as protecting them from being scratched and clearing my room of clutter by storing the albums up in the loft. Perfectly legal.

As legal as the old Maxell cassette tapes I used to tape compilations of my favourite tracks from my original vinyl 12 Inch records and albums, or making my own mix tapes with my old technics 1210 turntables. All perfectly legal to do, so long as I did not sell them on.

usignuolo

I have done some more digging on this and another factor, not so far mentioned, is that US copyright law is not the same as UK law when it comes to copying digital music. In particular in the US home copying of digital music is covered by the TheAudio Home Recording Actof 1992 (AHRA) Section 10.


This law provides the buyer of a CD or Cassette with the right to not only make a copy for their own personal use, but also to make copies for friends as long as the original owner is not selling the copies or receiving any other type of compensation.


I have two types of music I am intending to copy onto a CD for my friend. The first are some MP3 tracks which were provided as part of my paid-for subscription to a US music e-zine. These tracks are supplied by the artists and record companies who own the copyright and are made available for purblicity and promotion, in a variety of format specifically for the subscribers to download onto portable music devices. (Similar to the sampler CDs you get on some UK music magazines).


Secondly I have a number of tracks downloaded and paid for from Napster which are in WMA format. This is what it says on the Napster site:

As a Napstersubscriber, you can listen to the same song an unlimited amount of times without having to worry about any limits. You can also download your favorite music to your PC and listen to it when you are not connected to the internet. If you subscribe to Napster To Go, you can transfer that music to any compatible portable device and take your music with you. ..... all Napster subscription members can purchase music to burn to CD or just keep permanently in their digital music collection.


So I think I am in the clear on this.


More on the AHRA Act 1992
TheAudio Home Recording Actof 1992 (AHRA) amended theUnited States copyright law by adding Chapter 10, "Digital Audio Recording Devices and Media". The act enabled the release of recordable digital formats such as Sony and Philips' Digital Audio Tapewithout fear of contributory infringement lawsuits.

The AHRA's statutory definitions of "digital audio recording device" and "digital audio recording media" are crucial to understanding the implications of the Act. The distinction between covered and non-covered devices or media dictates whether or not royalties are paid and whether the SCMS copy control technologies are included.


The language of the act protects all noncommercial copying by consumers of digital and analog musical recordings regardless if the copy control technology is present or the royalty has been paid.

The principal distinction between what is and is not covered by the AHRA, is determined by whether or not the device is marketed or designed (or in the case of media, commonly used by consumers) to make audio recordings, not the device's capabilities. A CD-R recorder included as part of a personal computer would not be a digital audio recording device under the Act, since the personal computer was not marketed primarily for making copies of music.

Private, noncommercial copies by consumers using "digital audio recording devices" are explicitly protected by §1008. The Senate report defines noncommercial as "not for direct or indirect commercial advantage", offering examples such as making copies for a family member, or copies for use in a car or portable tape player.

davester

usignuolo wrote: »

From direct.gov.uk

"If you've bought a CD in a shop, you may want to copy the songs onto an MP3 player or make a copy of the CD. Generally speaking, you can make a copy for your own personal use, you will not be breaking the law. You can also lend the CD that you bought to your friends if they want to listen to it.

However, it is illegal to make copies of CDs and give them to your friends or to sell pirate copies of CDs for a profit."

Shimple then. I'll just lend the "mixtape" CD to my friend.

Off to try out some of the methods suggested, will let you know how I get on.

Please post the actual link. I cannot find anything that says that, but can easily find in Direct.gov that you cannot make copies of anything witha registered copyright (which all music published has) without the owners permission.