Ripping

CD Ripping: Is it Legal?

So, CD ripping, is it legal?

The short answer?

No, it is not.

That’s just the short answer, though. The actual law with regards to ripping the music off of a CD and storing it on your computer or burning it to another CD is confusing at best, and the subject of a fair share of controversy.

The reason for the dispute is that, since the music or video ripped from a CD or DVD can be freely shared and distributed via the internet or trading burned disks, that CD ripping is kind of the first step towards piracy.

To many, this is silly, because, in fact, the first step towards piracy is buying a CD with intention to pirate. You’re not going to see record companies banning the sale of CD’s anytime soon, though, even if it would technically put an end to anyone pirating new music!

Ripping computer software from a CD, on the other hand, is completely, one hundred percent legal. In fact, most software needs to be copied onto your computer directly before it can be put to use, so a ban on ripping software would be pretty foolish.

With regards to ripping music or video from a CD or DVD, a lot really depends on they outcome of the actual courtroom trial (if it comes to that). Historically, if you rip music or video, or photocopy a book or magazine that you own, etcetera, and only use it for your own personal use, this is covered by the Fair Use Doctrine (at least in the United States). This is thanks to the Sony Betamax Doctrine. Betamax is, of course, the outdated VHS competitor. Many people bought Betamax VCRs when both Betamax and VHS were new, not knowing that Betamax would quickly become obsolete. The Betamax Doctrine allows for the copying of media for personal use, so that Betamax owners could buy VHS video tapes, copy them to Betamax, and watch them on their own home VCRs without having to rent a VHS VCR every time they want to watch one of their own movies. Likewise, someone who buys a whole bunch of Betamax video tapes, and then switches to VHS, can copy all of their old movies to VHS so as not to have to re-buy their collection all over again. This extends to all forms of copying media for one’s own personal use. Someone who wishes to keep listening to their record collection can record to cassette tape, and someone with a large collection of cassette tapes or 8 tracks can record their collection onto CDs, etcetera.

But here’s where the dispute comes in: The RIAA, the group that represents a large portion of music copyright holders, have maintained that the right to copy media has not, in fact, been granted to users, and that the Fair Use Doctrine does not apply.

Right now, there is a trial in process, RIAA v. Jammie Thomas. Depending on the outcome of this trial, it may soon become illegal even to back up your CD on your own hard drive, without ever distributing the music to other people.

Right now, what it comes down to is this: There isn’t really anything unethical about it, no matter how you slice it. All you’re doing is taking property that belongs to you and moving it from one place to another. The legality of it may come into question. If you use your ripped music to distribute, you may get into trouble, unless that music falls under open content or free content rules. Even if you remix a popular song and put it on youtube or another media sharing site, you may see legal action being pressed against you (though it rarely comes to this).

Even if it does become completely illegal, you may stand by the “who’s gonna know about it?” defense, but that can’t always be reliable. All it really takes is one person who knows about it getting mad at you to land yourself in some hot water.

We’ll see in the coming months how RIAA v. Jammie Thomas winds up, and until then, the official ruling on ripping music and video from CDs and DVDs is this: Do it at your own peril. We can’t really know how the case is going to wind up right now, and until then, there’s a chance that your harmless ripping of a CD may get you into some serious trouble, depending on the judge and whether or not the copyright holder wishes to press charges.