Discussion:
All over the US of A.
Hello,
If a person was to offer a piece of software, and a commercially available hardware(a wifi adapter or such) to iPOD users, that would allow them to share music between one and other.. would it be illegal?
If so, why? Any specific laws i should look into to see whether i can find any way to do the above scenario?
The ideal setup would be wherein a user could stream or share music with other iPOD users, based on their preferences.
By share, i mean the music will be downloaded onto the iPOD user's harddrive, and he will be allowed to listen to it.
Apple uses the AAC file format, but the song would be saved as an mp3 (we would not be decoding the AAC file, this is clearly against the law, instead we would be recording the AAC file to an Mp3 file while the user listens to the song).
A disclaimer would be included of course, that stealing music is illegal etc etc, and the user will be directed to the apple itunes site to buy the song after he listens to it, but he can click close and just continue.
Thank you for your time.
Regards.
Answer:
If a person was to offer a piece of software, and a commercially available hardware(a wifi adapter or such) to iPOD users, that would allow them to share music between one and other.. would it be illegal? Probably.
Clearly the sharing of the music is illegal -- see AMG v. Napster. Whether selling the software would be illegal (or, more accurately, would result in liability for contributory or vicarious copyright infringement) would depend on whether or not the software had "substantial noninfringing uses" as defined under Universal v. Sony, as further limited by the recent SCOTUS Grokster decision.
The trend is to make pretty much everyone liable for some sort of infringement in these types of situations, so I would count on your system being the one to buck the trend. Napster was found liable for infringement, so was Grokster, and there's nothing in your post to suggest that your software wouldn't be held liable as well.
Further, from a purely practical standpoint, do you have the financial resources to defend yourself should the RIAA or even Apple decide to come after you for infringement? Even if you have a righteous case (and it doesn't sound like you do from what you've written, but who knows), you'll still need to hire lawyers to defend yourself, and that takes money up front. Since the RIAA has been spending a lot of time suing not only file-sharing software companies but the file-sharers themselves, it would take a pretty serious leap of faith to believe that they will just ignore your software.
A disclaimer would be included of course, that stealing music is illegal etc etc, and the user will be directed to the apple itunes site to buy the song after he listens to it, but he can click close and just continue. A disclaimer won't protect you. What you probably should do before you invest a lot of time and money in this is sit down with a local copyright attorney, who can review your software and any other relevant facts about your idea, and advise you accordingly.