“Late last year the UK Government legalized copying for private use, a practice which many citizens already believed to be legal. The UK Intellectual Property Office noted that the changes were ‘in the best interest’ of consumers and that they would bring copyright law into the 21st century,” TorrentFreak reports. “However, the new regulation was short-lived. Fearing a loss of income several music groups objected at the High Court, which subsequently agreed that the new legislation is unlawful.”
“As a result the changes were overturned last month and the previous limitations were reinstated. To find out what the public can and can’t do under the law, TF reached out to the UK Intellectual Property Office, which provided some very clear answers,” TorrentFreak reports. “‘It is now unlawful to make private copies of copyright works you own, without permission from the copyright holder – this includes format shifting from one medium to another,’ a spokesperson informed us.”
“The IPO specifically notes that copying a CD to an MP3 player is not permitted. This means that iTunes’ popular ripping feature, which Apple actively promotes during the software’s installation, is illegal,” TorrentFreak reports. “Also, under the current law iTunes is actively facilitating copyright infringement by promoting their CD-ripping functionality. This means that the company could face significant claims for damages.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Sometimes stupidity knows no bounds. UK lawmakers will have to fix this utter nonsense somehow.