RIAA Argues That MP3s From CDs Are Unauthorized 668
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "In an Arizona case against a defendant who has no legal representation, Atlantic v. Howell, the RIAA is now arguing — contrary to its lawyers' statements to the United States Supreme Court in 2005 MGM v. Grokster — that the defendant's ripping of personal MP3 copies onto his computer is a copyright infringement. At page 15 of its brief (PDF) it states the following: 'It is undisputed that Defendant possessed unauthorized copies... Virtually all of the sound recordings... are in the ".mp3" format for his and his wife's use... Once Defendant converted Plaintiffs' recordings into the compressed .mp3 format and they are in his shared folder, they are no longer the authorized copies...'"
Re:This! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Learn how to summarise (Score:3, Funny)
Remember, these are RIAA lawyers we're talking about, not techies. What's the same format in different locations to you could be described entirely differently by these guys.
Re:Fair enough... (Score:3, Funny)
He SHARED with HIS WIFE?!?! (Score:3, Funny)
RIAA Lawyer: Your honor, despite sharing a surname, bank account and residence, Plaintiff's exhibit 23A - a copy of a marriage license - will clearly show that Mr. Defendant and his so-called wife are, in fact, two completely separate people. Furthermore, these DNA samples, marked Plaintiff's exhibit 23B, also provide conclusive evidence that these two "married" people are most certainly two distinct persons.
Our license to this music clearly states that it is for personal use. Copyright law makes clear that this only grants license to one person and yet the Defendant plainly admits that he illegally shared our copyrighted content with his so-called wife, a clearly separate and unauthorized entity.
This is an outrageous, flagrant and willful disregard for the law! On that basis, I move for summary judgement.
Re:Fair use!!! (Score:2, Funny)
You people! How dare you eat into my money! How dare you think, even just for a moment that the music you purchased allows you to convert it to MP3 for use on your iPod and PC!!! Damn it, if you want MP3's pay for it again in MP3 format from iTunes! I have stock in Apple as well you pricks! I want MORE MONEY!
Oh and would some one please think of the artists! You are robbing them! Stealing from them! We already shaft them up the backside! They don't need a threeway going on! That is our job to fuck the artists! WILL SOMEBODY PLEASE THINK OF THE ARTISTS HERE!?!?! CAUSE WE WON'T!!!
Fucking annoyed now because I can't buy my 12th house in Europe because you all copied music, not to even mention the penis enlargement surgery I had planned!
RIAA Executive zombie #666
Re:You're *just now* starting to boycott??? (Score:3, Funny)
I've been listening to the voices in my head for years and noone else seems to know about them. Wow! I must be extremely cool!
Right now they're telling me I should seek out indie-music snobs and sacrifice them to the Space God Zorkon...
Re:Fair use!!! (Score:4, Funny)
free the music!!! (Score:1, Funny)
Go phuck yourself RIAA (Score:3, Funny)
What part of Go Fuck Yourself are you having a problem understanding? What part of Fair Use has sailed over your head? When I rip MY CD's on MY computer be it mp3, ogg or flac it's to do so for convenience. It would not be any different if I recorded my CD's to a Hi-Fi VCR or cassette deck. You can take your unauthorized copy bullshit and jam it squarely up your ASS.