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The government’s just come out with its fix for creating a “modern intellectual property framework”. What with everyone suing the pants off everyone else, you’d think that this would be something to do with the crazy world of patents. But no. It’s actually a ‘fix’ that affects something we all do on a daily basis, that’s apparently illegal.
Fun fact I learned this morning: copying some kind of copyrighted digital media from one storage medium to another is illegal. So, ripping your CD collection onto iTunes to put on your iPod? Illegal. Copying an eBook from your computer onto your Kindle? Illegal. Oops.
Thankfully, that’s all set to change. The government’s laid out a new “ modern, robust and flexible copyright framework” to address the problem — the problem being that no one or their dog gives a rat’s arse about the current law. Their theory is, if the government are nice enough to change the law (a law I’m sure no one even knew existed), we might be so grateful that we stop breaking the laws we actually know about. Or something like that.
Anyway, apparently this change, along with a few other more meaningful ones (like allowing schools to record TV programmes for “private study” and allowing greater use of copyrighted material, if it’s properly acknowledged) with generate £500 million for the UK economy over the next 10 years. And if that’s not an impressive conjuring trick, I don’t know what is. Still, at least I should be grateful that I’m no longer breaking the law by copying CDs, even if it’s not really going to change my day-to-day life one single jot. Now that we’ve done that, can we sort out the whole patent thing? Cheers. [IPO via BBC]
Image credit: CDs from Shutterstock
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Format-shifting content has always been a gray area (until now this gets passed that is!), however it’s not us that has an issue with the patents – you can only patent software in the US, and even that seems to be slowly undoing itself!
Hello there, you seem to be an Cool Cat & down with the Kids.
Did you know that a bunch of really really nice guys are running a Community on the Google Plus dedicated to Gizmodo UK in an Unofficial capacity?
Maybe you should go and have a looksy, i hear its full of fun and that they’re moderating it so no nasty companies can come in and advertise at you!
Of this I was not aware, I shall have to clear my search history and do some furtive Googling!
and for the younger generation
de fing on google added is like a fing dat ya can rite on walls and join a non sanctiond giz gang.
were we markz out terry-tory by tying old fones togeva an frow dem over wirez so we ownz dat space innit
What the fuck did I just read?
what is worse is What the fuck did I just write?
are you working on commission
I wish, just for the love of it, but PrinterElf is a moderator there too but dont tell everyone
I too would like to join, in fact I applied last night. Fun & frolics in G+ land!
You should received a post on your home tab in google plus asking you to confirm your identity! Go have a look, see if you can find it, it should be there!
This is why I wish I was a top commenter.
Everybody is welcome! Come find us on Google+, we ask you your giz name & to post a comment to verify you’re a commenter then you’re in!
We only have an approval system to stop spammers & companies joining.
Everybody really is welcome!
And yet the music industry still complains…
“But musicians and songwriters complained that they will lose out.
The Musicians’ Union and British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors said all other European countries with a similar law also have some form of levy on items like blank CDs and media players to compensate creators.”
Not everyone uses blank CD for music you stupid fucks. Why should I pay a levy to you mob everytime I buy a spindle for backing my shit up?…
Boy, I’m in a cranky mood this morning. I may have to leave Giz alone today…
Soft kitty, Warm kitty, Little ball of fur. Happy kitty, Sleepy kitty, Purr, purr, purr. x x x
No, he said cranky, not sick
Never underestimate the healing powers of the Kitty. That song can make a blind man walk and cripple see. it can bring joy to the happiest of people and spread love and joy across all the peaceful nations of the world.
Are you high?
It’s fine if you are, I just need to know.
Constantly high on life! (and ethanol, now, who said that??)
And if anyone sang that to me when I am sick it will lead to a fist shaped indentation in said person’s face.
surely it would depend on who sang it to you
Agreed, i very much doubt he’d punch the queen, if she was sat by his sick bed, lulling him with a ditty.
Does anyone know if the copyright laws are the same across the whole of the UK or are there different laws in Northern Ireland and Scotland?
That’s a good point actually, I don’t know myself! Though I imagine they’ve got bigger problems to worry about, like whether a certain flag should have been taken down or not…
It’s in the UK it’s exactly the same (for now at least til they decide which flag to put up lol not that I ever noticed there was a flag there to begin with :\ lol took 31 years to discover it’s existance ffs)
I copy all my cd’s to my hard drive more or less immediately so I always have a backup if one gets scratched or stolen. Why pay an inflated premium to an artist for a cd which maybe only has a few tracks you really like only for it to get scratched and then have to buy it again to stay on the right side of the law, it just doesn’t make sense)
Chris, that is crazy, and it is a fact. I commend you most sincerely on this fine article!
You brown noser, you.
I felt the necessity to point out that this isn’t necessarily true; specifically for the case of the kindle, and for example music bought through the iTunes store, these files have the ability to transfer between authorised devices built into the license to use the digital file that you’ve bought. So the CD and DVD etc thing is still technically illegal, but the Kindle transfers, and iTunes-purchased media, can be transferred to authorised devices.
Doesn’t ripping come under fair use? Or have they done away with that. British law can be hellishly complicated with parts overlapping and contradicting each other. While this is probably true I wouldn’t be surprised if there was another law on the book allowing you the right to move things you own between media formats.
Hmm, this article is very misleading. Well, wrong actually.
“copying some kind of copyrighted digital media from one storage medium to another is illegal.”
Yes it is, *if you do so without the permission of the copyright holder*. You have the permission to copy say a song you bought from iTunes on to your iPod. Not the slightest bit illegal. And, a few years ago, the music publishers said ripping CDs for your own use (i.e. ripping your own CD on to your own PMP) was now okay under “fair use”. Not the slightest bit illegal. Movie publishers have not given any such permission, so it’s still illegal to rip DVDs.
So no, not all transfers are illegal, as you wrongly suggest.
The current impetus is to update laws in recognition of the fast changing operating environment.