“Gift giving season is almost here, and it’s very likely that this festive season you or someone you know will receive an iPod. But be wary – by giving someone an iPod this Xmas you may also be giving them a whole lot of legal trouble,” Alex Malik writes for Crikey. “Apple’s iPod has already been proclaimed by the music industry as its saviour. Yet ironically, the iPod does not come with any music pre-loaded onto its system. When initially purchased an iPod contains no more music than an old-fashioned Walkman containing a blank cassette. So, where can you get music to populate an iPod? There are only two effective choices. Either you obtain your music from Apple’s iTunes service, or you potentially breach the copyright of Apple and the record companies by obtaining the music from elsewhere.”
“Despite a long running government inquiry, you still can’t legally rip CDs you have purchased onto your computer, and convert them into iPod compatible files. You can’t even buy digital music files from a non-Apple related provider and play them on your iPod without breaching the copyright attached to Apple’s proprietary system. Unless of course you purchase the digital music from the non-Apple related provider, burn it onto CD, lose a generation of sound quality and then rip it. So, effectively you have to obtain your music from Apple’s iTunes or you risk being branded a lawbreaker,” Malik writes. “Technology was supposed to make music more freely available to the wider community. Instead we have Australia’s most popular piece of hardware being supported by a single, limited service. Just when did the Australian public agree to this new monopoly?”
Full article here.
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Just when did the Australian public agree to this situation? That would be when they voted in the lawmakers who effectively crafted the Australian Copyright Act which still, in 2005, fails to address this issue adequately according to Malik. We’re not lawyers, so we’re not entirely sure that it’s even illegal to rip CDs in Australia. If it is illegal to rip CDs, Apple didn’t write the Australian Copyright Act nor do they write amendments to the Act. Don’t blame Apple for an outdated Australian law that prohibits CD owners from using the music contained on such discs on their iPods.
The Australian Copyright Tribunal consists of a President and any number of Deputy Presidents and other members appointed by the Governor-General. The Tribunal presently consists of a President, a Deputy President and three members.
The Secretary
Copyright Tribunal
Level 16, Law Courts Building
Queens Square
Sydney NSW 2000.
Tel: (02) 9230 8567 (9am-4pm)
Fax: (02) 9230 8535
http://www.ag.gov.au/agd/WWW/securitylawHome.nsf/Page/Contacts
The Governor-General: governor-general@gg.gov.au
Related articles:
Australia’s million iPod users are all breaking piracy laws – September 21, 2005
Related articles:
Apple passes 600 million iTunes Music Store songs sold milestone – October 25, 2005
Analyst: Sony BMG’s boycott of Apple’s iTunes Music Store Australia won’t last long – October 24, 2005
Coles Myer to carry Apple iTunes Music Store Cards in Australia – October 24, 2005
Apple launches iTunes Music Store Australia – October 24, 2005
Report: If Apple launches iTunes Music Store Australia tomorrow, Sony BMG won’t be included – October 24, 2005
Japan music labels look to impose ‘iPod Tax’ while Sony, Warner still not signing with Apple iTunes – October 10, 2005
Why aren’t Sony, BMG, Warner, Victor making their artists’ music available on Apple’s iTunes Japan? – October 06, 2005
Sony and Warner holding out on Apple iTunes Music Store Australia – September 08, 2005
Musicians stage mutiny against Sony, defiantly offer music via Apple’s iTunes Music Store – August 10, 2005
Record company causes Apple to hit ‘pause’ on Australian iTunes Music Store – May 05, 2005
Sux to live “down under”
first post!
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Alex Malik is a brain dead drongo! Total BS from this guy–ripping MP3 (better to rip to AAC) is considered fair use even in Australia. This is FUD of the smelliest kind.
Apparently it’s illeagal to record TV to video tape. Or radio to cassette. But why can I go to a public library, and join for FREE and borrow a book,CD,tape,video,DVD etc for FREE. How do writters make any money.
There is no way in hell to police this. How many of you naughty boys and girls have stockpiles of your fav TV shows on video tapes. It’s like smoking. Here in Australia it is quite legal to smoke but you must be within X amount of feet from the entrance to a government building. The government are the ones selling the smokes. The fine is 2000 bucks here in Tassie. But to the best of my knowledge after a couple of years of this, no one has been busted for smoking.
Yeah yeah we’re all law breakers here in Oz. But sharing songs with our class mates is better than shooting eachother.
I wonder if I could be indefinitely detained under the new terrorism laws for this crime. At the very least my computer would be searched without my knowledge.
Actually, it’s not the out-dated laws, it’s the new amendments required for the FTA…
“Unless of course you purchase the digital music from the non-Apple related provider, burn it onto CD, lose a generation of sound quality and then rip it”
Since when does duplicating digital files create a generational loss in sound quality? If you buy a high quality digital file from a non-Apple source, burn it to CD then rip it into iTunes, you don’t lose quality unless you set the file to be lower quality somewhere in the process. The author is still in analog mode. Regardless, if I were in Australia, I would rip my CDs and wait for someone to try to bust me on it. Go for it Aussies…if you bought the CD, it’s your music to move onto your iPod. Illegal or not, it’s not wrong or immoral to do that for your own use.
Ripping CDs is also technically illegal in the UK too. ‘Fair Use’ doesn’t exist here, it’s an American thing. What is ‘considered’ fair use and will probably never be prosecuted is still illegal. What’s bad is tat if a government wanted to stitch someone up, say a George Galloway type, they can sometimes use unfair laws against them unjustly prosecuting them and ruining them for something most people do and most people would not be prosecuted for even if the authorities could prove that they’d done something so heinous as to rip a CD.
Perhaps the legislature is just trying to maintain Australia’s “nation of convicts” heritage?
We have exactly the same law in NZ. Doesn’t stop me from filling my iPod from songs ripped from CDs that I have purchased.
Another gratuitous comment from MDN. Obviously the people who run MDN haven’t read the explanations I’ve written (five or six times) on this site.
I say gratuitous and I quote MDN “Just when did the Australian agree to this situation? That would be when they voted in the lawmakers who effectively crafted the Australian Copyright Act…”
So MDN when was the last time most Americans had any idea how the two arms of government functioned in the USA? For that matter when was the last time more than sixty per cent of the population voted for their President? FDR????
I don’t know what Americans do with dated laws where no-one is prosecuted but in Australia we ignore these laws. However the way MDN”s editorial comments are going I’m not far away from ignoring this site all together.
ARIA the Australian equivalent of RIAA is on record of saying they are not interested in prosecuting Apple, users who are ripping cds, users copying their vinyl collection etc.
MDN you want to know what Australians are concerned about? I’ll list them for you so you’ll never parade your ignorance again. They are:
* International terrorism…there’s been three bombings in Indonesia
since 2002 killing scores of our people. Without looking at an atlas or
the like do you know where Indonesia actually is? It’s right on our
doorstep. The country has an emerging democracy and Islamic
extremism. It is the most populous Islamic country in the world. Most
Indonesians are moderate.
* The war in Iraq. Why are we there? Are we becoming a target because
of our involvement? Will the war ever end?
* Will bird flu turn into a word wide pandemic? Are we prepared? Will I
or my children be OK?
* Are the proposed laws to change industrial relations in this country
going to turn us into a people who work to the point where we
lose our national identity and never have time for holidays, our
children, our friends or our relatives?
* Can we pay off our home mortgage?
* Can we afford the cost of sending our kids to school?
That’s just some of the issues that Australians are concerned about. We call them bread and butter issues. They might be boring but then again many people would be bored about an organisation going on about copyright.
If people were being prosecuted over these type of legal transgressions there would be an uproar, but no-one is getting prosecuted and no-one will be prosecuted. This being the case this is a non-issue. But MDN has a slow news day and as my ex editor from the Whitsunday Times used to say: “Never let the truth get in the way of a good story.” He also said, “Any story is better than no story…it keeps our advertisers happy and that pays the wages.” Right MDN???
For future reference Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays are slow news days. This was a Sunday piece…one of four.
Spark – you don’t lose quality copying like-for-like, so if the source music is already AIFF and it’s burned to CD, then there’s no loss of quality.
If you rip to a lossy format like MP3, then burn those files to an audio CD, then you have thrown away some data. You don’t have the same data as was on the original CD. What you have is uncompressed audio with the quality of MP3.
If you do this again, from the burned CD, the third CD will be different again from the second. More data will have been thrown away. Do this repeatedly, and you’ll have an Nth generation copy that would sound like some wasps in a tin can.
Don´t bother reading the MDN comments; they are usually so stupid, ignorant, off-based, anti-Apple consumer/pro-Apple corporation, ill-informend and uneducated responses that they are only worth a simple laugh at the stupidness of them.
I’d like to thank the person who suggested http://www.emusic.com on another thread a week or two ago. Higher quality downloads than iTunes, less expensive and no DRM. I’d assume Australians have access to this as well.
No room in the Aussie prisons for the iPod convicts, as they are full of Poms and Kiwi’s.
Keep on rippin’
It feels so Goooood
Don´t bother reading the MDN reader feedback comments; they are usually so stupid, ignorant, off-based, anti-Apple/pro-leftist, ill-informed and uneducated responses that they are only worth a simple laugh at the stupidness of them.
Nothing wrong with MDN takes – if you accept they are their views and not for you to believe to the letter. I don’t think anyone makes you read the site or its content do they?
So, relax and enjoy the site for what it is – an airing of Appleish news and viewpoints; right ones, wrong ones, informed ones and plain daft ones too.
Oh, and if anyone can tell me where in the world the law is not an ass, let us know will you.
Hey, has anyone ween the popunder ad today.Hot chick on Mate1. It they’re all like this one it’s ok with me.
Ga’day mates
While ripping CDs is frowned on by our gov we do have legalized prostitution, decriminalized weed laws and some of the best lager in the world. Now that’s a life!
Cheers
Just so everyone understands why I had a go at MDN, its for the following comment: “Just when did the Australian public agree to this situation? That would be when they voted in the lawmakers who effectively crafted the Australian Copyright Act…”
How old is this law MDN? Did you bother checking? No.
The reference to a recent election is is again a stupid, ill-informed comment. The law has had the guts amended out it. This Act was established in 1968. MDN didn’t bother checking. I was 14 when this Act was enacted. MDN, it’s not good enough to say “…We’re not lawyers” and then let her rip. You should’ve checked and rechecked before editorialising, but you didn’t bother doing anything. It was a slow news day so you went out of your way to inflame.
For the past year or so I’ve really enjoyed MDN but what has concerned me is the number of extremists that comment on this site. I had thought that it was just about free speech. However if readers keep a close eye increasingly there are complaints about some of MDN’s opinions.
A responsible webmaster would take these comments on board. Not MDN!! But once MDN went into the area of Australian jurisprudence they went onto my turf. And when you make a baseless comment on Australian copyright law you are in my view, a bunch of semi-educated self-opinionated fools.
Check your sources before you fire your shotgun. You have a responsibility to your readers to be accurate in your analysis. If you can’t or won’t do this then don’t make any comment at all.
Perhaps we have to complain to your advertisers to get you to act responsibly. Is that the only way that you’ll get the message?
Come on MDN how about a comment? You didn’t have any problems giving us your two cents worth before. Your silence is breathtaking. It is only matched by your apparent ignorance.
Haven’t seen a popunder, over or poptab since some pesky Jamster ads started blaring unsolicited tunes, motivating me to filter out all but the Apple related ads in MDN. It’s been sweet since.
>* Can we afford the cost of sending our kids to school?
You mean can we afford to send them to private school or to a funds-starved public school?
Dear Bob,
No, actually the laws are out of date. This has been the situation since 1968 (and probably before that). The law is being updated and made consistent with the FTA. The problem is that this law is a low priority given the more important issues that governments have to deal with nowadays.
Cheers
br
bikersrule — it is clear that you are very agitated. However, this is causing you to bring up points which detract from your the strength of your arguments.
For example, MDN pointed out that the absence of a Fair Use proviso is highly archaic. Further, this is not a recent ‘digital age’ issue: it has been a problem ever since blank media have been available. Your response invokes “bird flu” and “mortgage rates”, among other unrelated issues.
Your cogent response, namely that this is an unenforced law, is a good one which unfortunately got lost in the shuffle. You might further point out that the US is riddled with equally archaic but much more reprehensible laws. For example, the ridiculous laws in about 9 states forbidding cohabitation of unamrried people of different sexes. Also, the recently defeated anti-sodomy laws in Texas are a prime example of completely unjust laws which were nevertheless the law of the land.
Finally, threatening to leave an internet message board is a rather idle threat.
In sum, take a breath and try not to take national issues so seriously. Your comments here are usually worth reading.