The day the music died: US record industry sues man for ripping own CDs to computer

From The Register and IPKat comes the news that the Record Industry Association of America (RIAA) is suing a man for ripping music CDs to his computer. The allegation isn't that the defendant, one Jeffrey Howell of Arizona, distributed the resulting 2,000 music files on the internet. He didn't. Mr Howell also appears to have bought the CDs in question, and the RIAA isn't contesting that.

This legal action surprises us at IMPACT®. Judging by the tone of the 117 comments that the Register's story has received so far (sample headings "Ludicrous", "Ridiculous", "That's it they have finally lost the plot"), it's taken many others by surprise too.

We're UK, not US, lawyers here and this is a US legal action. I had been under the impression that, under US law, the copyright law fair dealing provisions allowed people to take personal copies of copyright works (such as music) that they had purchased. If the RIAA is right, this isn't the case. I haven't seen any comments by US IP law bloggers on this matter, and would welcome clarification on this point.

UK copyright law does not allow people to take personal copies of copyright works; to do so is technically copyright infringement. However, the UK music industry has largely decided to turn a blind eye to the practice. Most computers today come equipped with software allowing users to rip their music CDs on to their computers (Windows Media Player, anyone?); a lot of people do so simply because it is convenient to have their music collection ready to play at the click of a mouse button rather than having to hunt around for the physical CDs.

Given that most use of digital music players involves music files ripped from CDs, the RIAA's actions will damage confidence in the digital music player market. Perhaps more seriously, the RIAA's actions could alienate even more people than the various legal actions against people distributing music on P2P sites such as Kazaa did.

If this case comes to trial, it will be interesting to see if the RIAA manages to get a jury where no one has a digital music player with ripped music on it, or has ever recorded music on to cassette from the radio.

Comments

[Simon Bradshaw]

The immediate question that comes to mind is if Mr Howell didn't distribute these files, how did the RIAA know about them? Are they obtain search-and-seize warrants for anyone seen in possession of an iPod?

[Alex]

Good point, Simon. Thanks for your comment. The known facts on this case are very light at present, so it is difficult to say. However, if the RIAA used spyware or similar to collect the evidence, this case would be very dubious indeed. A US IP lawyer contact has suggested that this case may be one of distribution and not simply possessing music files, in which case this case may not be as sinister as it currently looks. We'll bring updates as and when more facts surface.