Is it stealing to copy music off the radio onto a cassette the same as getting MP3s off a MP3 file sharing?

Question

Seems the same to me, one's better than the other, that's all. But I could always be wrong. I've been wrong before, but hardly ever.

Answer 1

Technically yes. But back then the creation of cassette tapes took time and could not be done on the massive scale that mp3's can be done today. So back then the music industry didn't really care. But with millions of users trading numbers of mp3's (I know I can personally download a whole album's worth of tunes in 5 mins or less) free music runs rampant and the music industry hates that. What worked for the music industry to market music before broadband came out now no longer works. Instead of embracing the technological movement brought by broadband by opening a music store that allowed you to download as much as you want for X price per month. They now sue the fans of the music they are selling. It's already backfired, millions have reduced or stopped buying cd's. I know ,unless it's an indie label, I don't buy cd's. I download just for the sake of sticking it to RIAA for attacking their own fan base, again ... unless it's an indie label then I buy the CD. It's the only way I know how to show RIAA I won't put up with this BS.

Answer 2

Technically it is infringement of copyright (civil offence not criminal - stealing is criminal). It has ALWAYS been an infringement of copyright to record a copy of any commercial music. However, the music industry will not prosecute where the copy is of a recording that you own (one copy for personal use). EG. you record a CD (that you own) onto cassette so you can play it in an old car stereo, or convert your old cassette into a CD using your computer.
If you never paid the artist in any way shape or form (ie. you recorded a CD from a friend) you could technically be prosecuted. If you record a copy of your own CD, then sell the CD, if you retain the recording - you could technically be prosecuted.
The rules seem involved, but really it's quite simple... If you paid the artist at some point for the recording, you would not be prosecuted. If you try to SELL or GIVE AWAY a copy of a commercial recording, you could be prosecuted. If you give or sell a recording whilst retaining a copy for yourself you could be prosecuted. If you copy a recording that you never owned you could be prosecuted.
As for the different types of recording, it is entirely immaterial where you recorded it from or the quality of the recording in the eyes of the law.
In brief... Yes it is as illegal to record from the radio as it is to file share.

Answer 3

I think its always been considered stealing, but the record companies didn't get involved until their losses started to hit millions. File sharing and blank cd recording combined to give individuals the ability to make nearly perfect duplicates of original material. Radio recorded cassettes have never directly competed with retail sales albums and cassettes on a large scale. In addition, the Internet allowed sharing among millions possible. Prior to that you could only share with your friends. The mass sharing of near perfect replicas is what all the fuss is about.

Answer 4

Not 100%. Often, when it comes to recording a file to tape over the radio, unless you've been doing it for a while, and are very proficient in it, you tend to loose some quality in the song. I remember doing this, and had that problem.

In the case of MP3s, these tend to be directly ripped from a CD, so the quailty usually doesn't suffer as much, though it is possible. MP3s are also compressed, meaning that that take up less space than the normal .wav versions of said files.

However, what most people take advantage of is the right to back up your material. This is often used for video games, in that you can have a copy of the game, in order to back up your exisiting game, in case it is corrupt. Similar claims are used for music, which I tend to favor.

Answer 5

I don't know. I would think it is, but the more I think about it, it's probably not. It's like when VCRs came out for the sole purpose of recording shows and movies off of TV. And now there's TiVO and all that good stuff, which seems to have no major legal issues.

But the quality is so terrible with the radio, anyway, and then when you add that to a cassette, it's not really worth it.

Answer 6

Technically illegal, but impossible to enforce, because there are no records of who listens to the radio. By the way, the sound quality will be worse, due to radio static.

Answer 7

Morally: Yes. Legally: No.

Answer 8

I don't think it is, because it's not an exact copy of the digital source.