RIAA Targets Transferring Music to PCs

In court filings related to a file-sharing lawsuit over file sharing, the RIAA has come out and said it believes transferring music from legally purchased CDs to a computer is illegal.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) hasn’t won many friends in the public sphere lately, what with filing tens of thousands of lawsuits against music fans believed to be distributing music online in violation of copyright, sending letters to college students and others threatening legal action unless they pay a settlement, and (of course) falsely targeting many individuals in these actions.

But in an unusual move in a file-sharing case the RIAA is brining against Arizona resident Jeffrey Howell, RIAA attorney Ira Schwartz characterizes MP3 files Howell allegedly shared via the Internet as "unauthorized copies." (PDF) The catch? These are MP3 files Howell created from music CDs he legally purchased.

Although this is the first time the RIAA has made such a claim in court filings, it is not the first time the organization has floated the concept that transferring music from a legally-purchased CD to a computer for personal use constitutes an "unauthorized copy" in violation of copyright law. Earlier this year, Jammie Thomas was ordered to pay $220,000 in damages for songs she shared online; in that case, the head of Sony BMG’s litigation team Jennifer Pariser testified she believed transferring your own CDs to a computer constituted theft. According to Pariser, transferring a song to a computer for personal use is "a nice way of saying ’steals just one copy.’"

The idea that transferring music from a legally purchased CD to a computer for personal use has commonly been considered to fall within the realm of "fair use," an exception to copyright law that permits limited use of copyrighted material without requiring permission from the copyright owners or administrators. However, this particular application of fair use has never been upheld by a court. By specifically citing transferring music to personal computers as an unauthorized copy, the RIAA is possibly hoping to set legal precedent that these copies are not protected by the fair use exception.

Conversely, if RIAA does not win the case, they may set precedent that such copies fall within the realm of fair use.

Howell maintains that the digital music files on his computer were for personal use only and transfer to portable devices, and were intended solely for private use.