Are you a copyright lawbreaker?

Good grief. I wrote about this point in The Independent newspaper in June 2000, when reviewing how to store MP3s on an Iomega Jaz drive (anyone remember those?):

"One last note. You shouldn't do any of the above or you will be breaking the law. So says the International Federation of Phonographic Industries (IFPI): in Britain you are not allowed to transfer a copyrighted work from one format to another. Amazing, but true: "the basic rule is that you can't copy or distribute a work without the permission of the copyright holder," explains Allen Dixon, counsel for the IFPI, which represents the music industry in Europe. "But we aren't going to break anybody's door down and prosecute them for taping music."

Nice to see everyone else picking up on this..

Want to rip you songs legally? Come to Australia! An amendment to a law as recently passed and now we are allowed to have as many copies of our media as we like.

No 4 (Joey). The Queen also now has a Podcast of her recent speeches!

I might add that the Queen herself owns an iPod. I'm willing to bet that Her Majesty's CD collection is on that iPod!

"Its not illegal, because i dont want it to be illegal!"

In all reality i only buy music or movies, by artists i want to support, if i just wanna hear it, its gonna be free.

Wasn't this highlighted about a month ago?

Anyway, the government has realised that the rule is indeed obsolete and the last I heard, they've formed a committee looking to change the rules (Gowers Review of Intellectual Property). A plus point is that they've recommended that consumers should get the right to copy music that they own, unrestricted, but most importantly, that legislation—not the industry—should decide on the copy restrictions.

http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/independent_reviews/gowers_review_intellectual_property/gowersreview_index.cfm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6214108.stm

I simply don't care. I fucking don't care.

I _buy_ my music (on cd for example) and I copy/rip/whatever verb on MY computer, MY device for MY pleasure and only MY AND MY USE !

This law is set to change, as reported in the UK's MacUser.
the government has had a look at IP law in the UK, and decided that you should be allowed to do format shifting, as you say, but also rip someone else's stuff off by using their music as a basis for your own. Primarily so that you can satirise stuff easier.

apparently, it should be introduced in 2008.
hurrah!

It's the same situation in Germany. It is illegal to make copies for personal use (including ripping mp3s) of a CD if this involves circumventing or cracking any copy protection. Those music industry folks just don't get it.

Similarly in Germany every copy Protected CD is illegal to rip. I believe this is the same in the entire EU...