How not to download iTunes Store tracks or previews for Ringtones

PSM, what you said is exactly right. The music industry wants to go even further to eventually move us to micropayments so that you're chugging them a few cents every time you play music on any device that "own". Even big applicaiton makers like Adobe and Microsoft are looking into eventualy implementing such a micropayment model.

Mr. Lizard. I advise you to look up the term.... legal contract. The A in EULA stands for Agreement. By clicking on "agree", you've signified your Agreement to the terms regardless of your personal feelings, or whether or not you bothered to read it in the first place.

Yet another reason not to download from iTMS.

CD's are still the safest, most hassle-free, and often cheapest way to legally acquire music.

IANAL, and if I were I'd “advise you to rent a very fast car with no top”. But this probably applies to making ringtones and sharing or selling them. The Universal vs. Sony Betamax case is a good precedent, and Just as you could attach a song to a Mail.app rule looking for a friend's email address, efectively you'd be timeshifting the song to coincide with a friend's call.

… and you'll need cocaine.

Does an EULA rank above the law?

Yes and no.

An EULA, or other contract, cannot force you to engage in an action that's breaking the law (hence the clauses at the end about how if one part isn't legal in a given jurisdiction, the rest still apply).

However, just because an action is legal otherwise, if you signed a contract saying that you will or won't perform a specific activity, then you are obligated to follow those terms. If you break the contract and use a song from the iTMS as a ringtone, you could easily find yourself on the receiving end of a lawsuit claiming some rather significant damages for your copyright infringement.

23,

I see your analogy.

But...

What about things like 'fair use'?

If apple put a clause in the contract that said 'you may only play this song twice', and i played it three times, sure I've broken the EULA but have I broken the law?

Does an EULA rank above the law?

Mr. Lizard,

Yes, it IS illegal if it's in the EULA. Completely, unquestionably, and inexcusably illegal. Because YOU AGREED TO IT. If you make a ringtone out of a song that Apple only agreed to sell you on the condition that you wouldn't make a ringtone out of it, YOU LIED. You BROKE THE CONTRACT. It's just as illegal as buying something-say, a piece of furniture that the store only agrees to give you ON CONDITION THAT you pay them its price-and then breaking the agreement and walking away without paying. IT'S ABSOLUTE AND TOTAL THEFT. So you can say the furniture was overpriced all you like, but stealing it is still ABSOLUTELY WRONG. You see the anaolgy?

PSM

Actually, 'just don't buy it' is the solution. How long do you think that restrictive formats would be around if nobody purchased them? Every dollar you spend on a restrictive format says 'I'm willing to put up with this'.

A ringtone made out of a ripped track from a CD *is* a derivative work, though it's arguably a case of fair use.

The CD just doesn't come with a traditional nitpicking software-style EULA or enforcing DRM - though CDs sometimes *do* have legal language in the liner notes or printed on the disk label which attempts to control use, ie, saying that the content of the CD isn't for public performance, not for unauthorized duplication, etc.

I assume iTunes plus tracks work fine though?

Ok, so if it's in the EULA does that make it illegal?

I've often wondered this. I know you agree to the terms in the EULA, but the EULA does not rank above the law.

If there's no actual law against using ITS purchases as ringtones, then just because someone puts it in an EULA doesn't mean it's suddenly illegal.

I mean, what is a ringtone, as far as the law is concerned? it's just a sound the phone makes when someone calls you. I doubt there's a law which focuses on ringtones.