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Vinyl to CD (1 Viewer)

Matthew Brown

Supporting Actor
Joined
Sep 19, 1999
Messages
781
I have been using Cakewalk to get some of my long out of print albums and singles to CD and have been pretty happy with the results. I was thinking of doing this as a "service" and had a few questions. I apologize if this isn't the correct forum for this.

Would there be any legal stuff I would need to know about concerning copyrights? My intention is to merely transfer the record to cd and give it back to the customer. I would keep the albums saved on my hard drive for a short peroid of time just in case the customer needed a backup. I would not be using these for my myself. I think this would qualify as fair use since I am transferring one medium to another for the customer. I would think a lot of people might not even have their turntables any more that would like this service.

I am trying figure out what a fair price is. I don't know what people would pay for this. I thought maybe $10 for a full album and $5 for each single. Maybe 3 singles for ten.

I would set expectations that the CD will only sound as good as the vinyl. Meaning that only so much can be done if the album is damaged or skips, etc.

Does this sound like more trouble than it's worth or is it a good way to make some extra money?

Thanks for any suggestions.

Matt
 

Rommel_L

Second Unit
Joined
Apr 25, 2000
Messages
355
Making backup for yourself - no problem. Making copies and selling them - BIG PROBLEM...
 

Matthew Brown

Supporting Actor
Joined
Sep 19, 1999
Messages
781
I found a few sites that do this already.
http://lp2cd.com/prices.htm
http://www.ferrismastering.com/

There are serveral more and all look legit.

I know it's more complicated than this but my simple understanding is that when you buy a record, cd, etc., you are in effect purchasing one 'license" for the work. You can trasfer the work to a different medium as long as you still own the original medium it was purchased on. Of course, you do not have the right to record and make multiple copies and sell or give it away. (not intended to start a file sharing discussion.)

If somebody does not have the means to transfer the work, is it illegal to have somebody else do it and pay for their time?

Thanks,
Matt
 

Jeff Ulmer

Senior HTF Member
Deceased Member
Joined
Aug 23, 1998
Messages
5,582
Yes, this is entirely illegal. You are making an unlicensed copy of a work and profiting from doing so. How these other companies are doing it without getting into trouble is beyond me (paying royalties or lack of interest from the copyright holders?), but there is nothing in copyright law or the AHRA that would permit this.

The courts have made a clear distinction between those who own the medium making a copy for themselves (legal), and having a third party do the work (illegal). If you want a definitive answer I suggest consulting a copyright lawyer or the RIAA. When you consider the penalties involved, I wouldn't rely on opinions in a net forum.
 

Matthew Brown

Supporting Actor
Joined
Sep 19, 1999
Messages
781

Jeff -
I only asked the question on this forum because I thought somebody could point me in the right direction to get an answer, which you did. I will write the RIAA and see what their stance is.

Thanks,
Matt
 

Todd Stout

Screenwriter
Joined
Jul 13, 1999
Messages
1,044
Why would transferring someone's LP or cassette to CD-R be illegal? That person is not paying for a bootleg, they are paying for the service of having music that they already own transferred to another medium. As long as the person who is transferring the music to CD-R doesn't keep a copy for himself or start selling additional copies to others, no law has been broken.
 

Rommel_L

Second Unit
Joined
Apr 25, 2000
Messages
355
If you do it yourself, fine. If you pay someone else to do it for you, that's a no-no...
 

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