I was sitting in my living room tonight, looking at my shelves with my audio CD collection. I seldom listen to any of them because
1. they are on shelves and it's a (small) hassle to put them in a CD player
2. I seldom know what to choose
So I thought: "what if I turned all the tracks into MP3 files using the latest version of iTunes 4.7.1" ? That would be great: I'd have to sit for hours doing that, but then I would always have my CD collection at my disposal everywhere I go (I have a large capacity hard disk on my laptop), and I could use the shuffle mode. I could even get an iPod (or something similar), and play the music in my car with that funny FM transmitter ;)
Sounds like a cool plan. Then I thought, "maybe I could sell my whole collection 2nd hand. That would save me some room at home, right?".
Now, there's a problem: is that legal ? I've bought all those CDs, and have owned them for many years. I have paid - presumably- all the rights and fees to the music studios, and the studios have gotten a share of my money. I have always had the right to sell anything 2nd hand. Do I have the right to keep a backup copy ? I suppose that yes (isn't it like a backup of a computer program?).
Now do I have an obligation to destroy my backup copy if I sell the original ? I suppose not... What if I loose the original? Do I have to delete all my files ? I guess that I only bought the right to own a reproduction of an IP-protected piece of work, and not the right to duplicate it.
Then... why is Apple giving away software that allows people to create MP3 files from their CDs ? why are other companies doing it as well ? Why are companies selling MP3 players (only to play those songs bought in MP3 format ?) ?
What's wrong here ? That studios aren't getting an extra share for the copy you are keeping while you are selling away your CDs ?
Funnily enough, Joi was thinking about the same thing, in a note I discovered later tonight. Only that he seems to prefer the Ogg Vorbis format. Good, it's the native format now on Linux ;oD
