duplication service?? legal or not??

[naddyboy]

What is the name of your state? Ohio
I have a cd, I copy it for backup purposes, as long as I keep the original, I can keep the my backup copy, this I know is legal. But what if you own a cd, you don't own a computer or have no means of making yourself a backup copy, would it be legal to pay me to make a copy of the cd and send it to you as long as you own an original? So say, you own an elvis cd that you bought at a retail store, and I own the same retail evis cd you own, could you pay me to make a copy of that cd and send it to you? would that be infringing on a copyright law? It would be the same as you making a backup copy of your own cd, except since you don't have the means to make your own copy, I would make the copy for you and send it to you. I would really like to know for 100% sure, if you could find a deffinate answer for this question I would appreciate it!!

 

[ChicagoLawyer]

If you want to be 100% sure, then go hire a lawyer and get the answer to your question in the form of a formal opinion. No one is going to give you an answer and say that it is 100% correct on a free Internet site.

This is not intended to be legal advice. Rather it is general advice only. Please contact an attorney. We have no attorney client relationship

 

[naddyboy]

Well, since i can't get a 100% for sure answer, can I at least get your opinion, should I waste my time and money on getting an attorney?? Any opinion would be nice. Thanks

 

[ChicagoLawyer]

i do not think that hiring a lawyer is a waste of time or money. Then again I am biased. There is a lot going on in your hypo, including warranties against infringement, potential complicity, contributory infringement, etc.

At one level you could be nothing more than a copy shop. "here, copy this for me....."

Or, you could be part of an infringement loop "here copy this so I can sell it on ebay......"

You really should talk to an attorney on this one.

That is all.

 

[racer72]

I have a cd, I copy it for backup purposes, as long as I keep the original, I can keep the my backup copy, this I know is legal.

The above statement is incorrect. The copyright law provision that allows backups to be made applies to magnetic media only, not to CD's or other optical media. Almost all recording and movie companies, software companies, the National Software Alliance and others have opposed including CD's and DVD's in the copyright provision. For every blank cassette or VHS tape sold in the US, part of the purchase price goes those that produce magnetic media as an offset the losses due losses of home recorded music and videos. There is no such fee added to the price of blank CD's.

What you suggest is a violation of on a couple of other counts too. In your example, the copy would not be an original copy of the CD owned by the purchaser. The copy would have a different ID brand than the original. And technically, you would be selling a copy of your CD, which would be a blatant violation of copyright laws. A friend of my owns a business that produces optical media for other companies and he is constantly asked to copy original material. He has stated if it was legal to copy CD's, he would have a chain of stores doing just that.