Legal & Ethical Questions in the PC Audio Age


I haven't ripped my entire CD collection yet, but I probably will in the near future. And I'll continue to buy CDs until I can download them in Redbook or better quality. I'm wondering about the legal and ethical implications of disposing of physical CDs once I've ripped them.

(I appreciate the value of keeping them around for archival purposes, but let's suppose that I'll want to get rid of some of them.)
Ag insider logo xs@2xdrubin
"I must admit that I have ripped CD's borrowed from friends (not many), and whilst it is probably poor rationalization, the truth is they are CD's I would NOT have bought myself anyway, so I'm not actually robbing the artist at all. I may even be helping the artist, because if I decide I like the artist, I may begin buying their other CD's and telling friends about them, which I wouldn't have done without the "free sample" as it were."

This is why it's best to keep the moral panic down to a dull roar, and to view what you do as a civil dispute, not a crime.

You're obviously violating copyright. It's far less obvious that you're doing any harm, and may - in fact - be helping the record company, especially if you're a heavy consumer of music.

Scott A.
OK, so some of you have taken the high road and never, never copied a CD. If the worst crime humanity ever committed was copying a CD, what a wonderful world this would be.
Again, it's not a big deal in the scheme of things.

But that's what we're talking about in this thread, and besides, to sorta quote Springsteen, 'from small things, big things come.'
Let me give this thread a bump. The topic must surely be heating up. Can anyone point me to authoritative writings on the subject?
Thanks,now I'm stressed out to the max worrying about if I'm going to prison for copying a cd!!Jeez,where's my prozac?