Mixed CDs for Wedding

[youwho]

What is the name of your state? Kansas

I am getting married, and would like to give guest cd's with copies of music from CDs I own, that will be played at the event. I have seen this idea in wedding books, and was wondering if I can get in legal trouble for copyright infringment or anything else? Should I trash the idea? Is there a way to do this legally if there are infringements here?

 

[racer72]

It is illegal and if your are caught it could cost you thousands of dollars. But the odds of getting caught are very slim. I will leave the rest up to you.

 

[Chroprozis]

What is the name of your state? Kansas

I am getting married, and would like to give guest cd's with copies of music from CDs I own, that will be played at the event. I have seen this idea in wedding books, and was wondering if I can get in legal trouble for copyright infringment or anything else? Should I trash the idea? Is there a way to do this legally if there are infringements here?

There are several sites which allow you to download and burn songs legally, where you pay about a dollar per song, per each CD. Two such sites are pressplay.com and listen.com. Many of these sites will have a free trial membership, so you can see if the songs that you want to have on the CD are available at that site. (Prior to using, you should read the terms and conditons of these sites, and / or email their customer service to verify the legality of your specific application.)

Any RIAA-approved method of creating the mix will end up costing you close to the amount of a store-bought CD, per guest.

 

[abezon]

You should be OK as long as you don't sell the mix CDs. You're getting into the area of 'fair use'. It's fair use for someone who owns a legitiate copy to make a backup so their original doesn't wear out. It's also fair to record a CD onto tape so you can listen to it in your car. Since you own the original CDs, all you're really doing is making playing them at the wedding easier. By setting up the playlist beforehand, you don't have to switch CDs every 3 minutes 50 seconds.

Since a wedding is a private event (invitation required), you're not playing the songs "in public."