January 30, 2012
Got unwanted MP3s clogging up your computer’s hard drive? Before you start flogging them to the highest bidder, be careful you don’t fall foul of current UK copyright laws.
The warning comes from legal experts who claim selling old MP3 music is illegal in the UK, just as in the US.
By comparison, selling second hand CDs and DVDs is fine, as distributors are selling a physical object. But digitally copying files onto someone else's computer is not allowed under current law.
While revisions are coming that allow people to make legal copies of digital music for private use among people living in the same house, copyright law does not allow for copying files onto someone else's computer in its present state.
When you buy, download or copy MP3s to your computer, your user’s license covers only your own private use of the music, video or audiobook you've downloaded.
With the recent Stop Online Piracy Act demonstrations highlighting the worldwide abuse of copyright, individuals are being reminded to do all they can to avoid getting on the wrong side of copyright holders.
