Copying your CDs to iTunes is no longer legal in the UK
In the U.S., it’s considered common practice to purchase a physical copy of a CD and download the contents to iTunes. The same applied to those in the U.K.—until now, that is. The recent overturning of a law that made copying music for personal use legal, has essentially now made iTunes illegal.
Read more: iTunes no longer accepting cover songs that are too similar to the original
“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,” says a spokesperson for the UK Intellectual Property Office, (via ConsequenceOfSound). “[The ban] includes creating back-ups without permission from the copyright holder as this necessarily involves an act of copying.” In short, this means that if, for one reason or another, you were to lose music that you purchased online, you would be forced to re-purchase the items in order to recover them.
When you place a CD in your computer's drive, iTunes will ask if you'd like to import (copy) it to your library. With that, it is a possibility that iTunes could face legal action from industry groups.
How do you feel about the law? Do you think it’s something that could see the light of day here in America?
