[Gllug] Uh oh, ministers consider "anti file-sharing laws"

[Alain Williams]

On Thu, Oct 25, 2007 at 12:52:09PM +0100, Iain Conochie wrote:
> t.clarke wrote:
> > On the subject of Copyright infringement,  how about this for a rip-off?
> >
> > Birth and Death Certificates etc are Crown copyright.
> >
> > You can take a photocopy for your own records (apparently), but if you need a
> > copy for the Bank etc,  it HAS to be an original as you are legally not
> > permitted to copy it.
> >
> > Tim
> >   
> I think this raises an interesting point in all of this.
> 
> You do not *own* your birth certificate, in the same way you do not 
> *own* your bank cards credit cards etc.
> 
> When you buy a CD of music or a DVD movie, you buying the physical 
> medium, and you are recieving a *license* to use the music or movie on 
> terms specified by the copyright holder (hence the blurb about public 
> broadcasting on movies). At not point do you *own* the music or movie.

Hence my earlier point: If i buy a record I then have a license to a recording
of the album. If I choose to use a new medium (eg CD/MP3) then I am using
that same license for the music but have provided my own physical medium.

The recent govt report recommended that people be allowed to create backups/copies
of music, etc, for personal use. My question is: if I have a license for
the music that came when I bought the thing on vynil, does that give me a
license to the same album (a re-release) on CD - so I can copy a friend's
CD and be legal.

If the license is independent of the physical medium, could I replace
them in the event of destruction - eg my house burns down, but I can prove
that I had these albums, so just copy them from a mate. Is that legal ?

-- 
Alain Williams
Linux Consultant - Mail systems, Web sites, Networking, Programmer, IT Lecturer.
+44 (0) 787 668 0256  http://www.phcomp.co.uk/
Parliament Hill Computers Ltd. Registration Information: http://www.phcomp.co.uk/contact.php
Chairman of UKUUG: http://www.ukuug.org/
#include <std_disclaimer.h>
-- 
Gllug mailing list  -  Gllug at gllug.org.uk
http://lists.gllug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/gllug