Is Ripping CDs in India legal?

[frnd08]

Just came to know that ripping audio CDs is actually illegal in the UK and in many states in the US. I am unaware of any law in this country regarding ripping of CDs, do you have any idea?

 

[arin]

I don't think ripping a cd should even remotely call for trouble. Yes if you rip it and put it for downloading online then it is surely illegal.

 

[Kittu]

Difficult to answer, but as long as your software used for ripping can verify the legality and tell you if its right or wrong I think you are good. play safe. Some one must be reading this.

 

[frnd08]

I don't think ripping a cd should even remotely call for trouble. Yes if you rip it and put it for downloading online then it is surely illegal.

okey dokey. is there somewhere i can confirm this? i need to be aboslutely sure, or i'll have to buy a copy of windows/ubuntu mp3 codec pack.

currently using ubuntu as the primary os.

also, i'm not looking to share all these songs btw. just want to transfer them to my mobile so that i can listen to these while on the go.

 

[venkatcr]

As long as you own the CDs and do not give the ripped copy to anyone, no-one in the world can question you. The issues arise with what you do with the ripped copies, and that is why governments pass laws calling ripping illegal. That is the first step, and that is the only step that the governments can control, if at all.

Cheers

 

[frnd08]

As long as you own the CDs and do not give the ripped copy to anyone, no-one in the world can question you. The issues arise with what you do with the ripped copies, and that is why governments pass laws calling ripping illegal. That is the first step, and that is the only step that the governments can control, if at all.

Cheers

thanks, glad u stepped in, no one better to answer these

btw just a few questions.

1. Is using the MP3 codec without paying in India (say Linux users using the ubuntu-restricted-extras package) legal? As I understand it is illegal in the US and Japan where one has to buy these codecs which mostly come bundled with Windows.

However I'm not on Windows, I'm using Ubuntu. So will those "restricted extras" package having the MP3 codecs for free be legal in India?

2. In case the free MP3 codec isn't legal, what if I rip to Ogg? Is Ogg completely free of patent complications? Ubuntu seems to be really ogg friendly. Also, my android music player Poweramp, is known to play ogg pretty well.

Would be glad if you could clarify these. Thanks again.

 

[arin]

As long as you own the CDs and do not give the ripped copy to anyone, no-one in the world can question you. The issues arise with what you do with the ripped copies, and that is why governments pass laws calling ripping illegal. That is the first step, and that is the only step that the governments can control, if at all.

Cheers

I totally agree with Ventakcr on this that calling ripping illegal is actually related to misuse of ripped copies not self-use like transferring to a mobile phone/portable-mp3 player

These are governed according to the copyright act 1957,about which you can research online,which is pretty interesting topic in itself. you need permission for using the material or for public performance only.

http://copyright.gov.in/Documents/CopyrightRules1957.pdf

 

[arin]

Even i use Ubuntu side by side to windows 7 and I must say that sometimes linux systems do become painful especially if you are not a geek. I use the Gstreamer codec,which works well for me

About the ogg thing, ogg is a very good "lossy audio format", by very good i mean better than mp3 and wma but the best sound quality i heard is from AAC HC. The benefit with ogg is that it is open source, which makes the development and sharing of ogg codes glitch-free but still for an end consumer like you, it should not be a big deal

 

[frnd08]

Even i use Ubuntu side by side to windows 7 and I must say that sometimes linux systems do become painful especially if you are not a geek. I use the Gstreamer codec,which works well for me

About the ogg thing, ogg is a very good "lossy audio format", by very good i mean better than mp3 and wma but the best sound quality i heard is from AAC HC. The benefit with ogg is that it is open source, which makes the development and sharing of ogg codes glitch-free but still for an end consumer like you, it should not be a big deal

i dont have windows unfortunately. so cant go to itunes and rip cds

btw even gstreamer has restrictions afaik. remember the fluendo codec pack for $40 which canonical had launched?

just to confirm though, ogg is indeed legal and free in India right? so i dont have to pay for the ogg codec or something to use it right?

 

[arin]

ogg is completely open source my friend. Its completely free to use,modify and develop.

Vorbis.com
Ogg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

But if you have not yet ripped your collection to the Hard drive, i would like to give a small advice, go ahead with FLAC format rather than Ogg if you prefer sound quality over storage space. A typical 4 minute song on ogg will result in around 4 mb in size whereas the same will be around 30-45 mb in FLAC format but you shall get CD-quality sound. You shall be blown away by the clarity in the songs.Whats more, FLAC (free lossless audio codec) is also open-source like ogg format

 

[marsilians]

Just came to know that ripping audio CDs is actually illegal in the UK and in many states in the US. I am unaware of any law in this country regarding ripping of CDs, do you have any idea?

if you have purchased the CD legally or can prove as such then ripping is fine. This is the reason logitech, WD TV etc are able to support ripped versions of the songs.

 

[frnd08]

ogg is completely open source my friend. Its completely free to use,modify and develop.

Vorbis.com
Ogg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

But if you have not yet ripped your collection to the Hard drive, i would like to give a small advice, go ahead with FLAC format rather than Ogg if you prefer sound quality over storage space. A typical 4 minute song on ogg will result in around 4 mb in size whereas the same will be around 30-45 mb in FLAC format but you shall get CD-quality sound. You shall be blown away by the clarity in the songs.Whats more, FLAC (free lossless audio codec) is also open-source like ogg format

this is indeed a great advice. but i will stick for ogg 320 kbps for the time being. the memory card on my phone is 8gigs. so cant really afford to go for flac right now.

thanks for the clarifications man. appreciate all the help.

 

[sarge_in]

Even if you choose another format for now, it is best to rip to FLAC (or any other lossless format) to start and then convert it to other formats as need arises, so you dont have to rip from CD again if you decide to use another format couple years from now. dBpoweramp is a great program for the purpose.

 

[riteshmadhok]

Many things are illegal in India, Still dont people do it?

 

[sbg]

As long as you own the CDs and do not give the ripped copy to anyone, no-one in the world can question you. The issues arise with what you do with the ripped copies, and that is why governments pass laws calling ripping illegal. That is the first step, and that is the only step that the governments can control, if at all.

Cheers

Acts, Policies & Task Force Reports | Government of India, Department of Information Technology (DIT)
This may not be the exact link. But I have read ( actual pdf should be on my disk somewhere). We in India DO have an act so safeguard "ARTISE" and "Their WORK". and what I remember is similar to some of the European laws.

Could be Copyright acts. 1947 recenly ammended or similar act but I dont remember right now.

 

[frnd08]

Many things are illegal in India, Still dont people do it?

very true. thats exactly why India has such a low levels of public consciousness.

 

[frnd08]

Acts, Policies & Task Force Reports | Government of India, Department of Information Technology (DIT)
This may not be the exact link. But I have read ( actual pdf should be on my disk somewhere). We in India DO have an act so safeguard "ARTISE" and "Their WORK". and what I remember is similar to some of the European laws.

Could be Copyright acts. 1947 recenly ammended or similar act but I dont remember right now.

so that safeguarding thing is sort of unrelated to ripping and refers mostly to illegal means of buying or downloading. am i correct?

 

[venkatcr]

so that safeguarding thing is sort of unrelated to ripping and refers mostly to illegal means of buying or downloading. am i correct?

This is complicated moral and legal issue. When an artist releases an album, he/she is looking to make money from the sale of the audio copies. When you buy a legal copy (LP, CD, Tape, DVD or whatever), the artist gives you the right to play the music for you yourself. This right is in the form of a written or unwritten agreement that you automatically agree to when you buy the music. This agreement is usually exclusive - the artist gives the right to ONLY you and no one else. When you do this, you can copy the media, you can rip the media, or flush it down the toilet.

Now comes the catch. Let us say you are listening to a song, and a friend walks in. He says, 'Hey that is a nice song. Can I get a copy'? What you should say is, 'please go to a shop and buy a copy'. When you give a copy to anyone else, you are breaking the agreement with the artist who has given you the right. It does not matter how you give a 'copy' to the other person. At the same time, if you sell the music to the other person, you are transferring the rights given to you to the buyer and that is completely legal. Since it is very difficult to keep track of all these transactions, the law says that the person physically holding the original music in whatever media in his/her hand has the rights given by the artist.

As long as you hold the original media, you can make as many copies or rips you want. But remember none of these copies can ever leave your hand.

Cheers

 

[baijuxavior]

^^. I think the same rule applies for video also. You can rip a dvd for your own use, provided you are the soul owner of the dvd.

 

[asliarun]

This is complicated moral and legal issue. When an artist releases an album, he/she is looking to make money from the sale of the audio copies. When you buy a legal copy (LP, CD, Tape, DVD or whatever), the artist gives you the right to play the music for you yourself. This right is in the form of a written or unwritten agreement that you automatically agree to when you buy the music. This agreement is usually exclusive - the artist gives the right to ONLY you and no one else. When you do this, you can copy the media, you can rip the media, or flush it down the toilet.

Now comes the catch. Let us say you are listening to a song, and a friend walks in. He says, 'Hey that is a nice song. Can I get a copy'? What you should say is, 'please go to a shop and buy a copy'. When you give a copy to anyone else, you are breaking the agreement with the artist who has given you the right. It does not matter how you give a 'copy' to the other person. At the same time, if you sell the music to the other person, you are transferring the rights given to you to the buyer and that is completely legal. Since it is very difficult to keep track of all these transactions, the law says that the person physically holding the original music in whatever media in his/her hand has the rights given by the artist.

As long as you hold the original media, you can make as many copies or rips you want. But remember none of these copies can ever leave your hand.

Cheers

Unfortunately, this is even greyer than this. What if the artist or the record company claims that they intended their license to be given to you only for that particular media format and for that exact copy? After all, if you had say lost/damaged a good book, you would go and buy another copy of the book from the bookstore. By claiming this, they can claim that even personal copies are illegal. The media companies or their lobbyists have already done this in some countries, to my knowledge.

This is where it gets really murky - excessive greed by media companies on one hand, and excessive liberties by users on the other hand.