What to do with 1,200 CDs I don't need

The statement I agree with most since my last post was made by Meisterkleef:

"If there were no such thing as file sharing, I doubt this issue would even be on the radar screen."

I'm kinda surprised by the number of people who are so sincerely concerned about this, to the point of declaring they haven't bought used music since they were starving students. For a vinyl record collector like me, this is almost inconceivably ludicrous -- there are literally tens of thousands of records from the past that are unavailable any other way. Besides which, I'm a firm believer that all publicity is good publicity when it comes to sales, and that limited dissemination beyond one's own ears of music that one has bought will ultimately help, not hurt, the artist. If I throw a party and spin records at it, BMI and ASCAP will never hear from me, but someone in attendance might be inspired to go out and buy something I played. If I burn a compilation CD-R and give copies to friends, same deal. And who here hasn't bought recorded music used and as a result been inspired to buy more from that artist new, or go see them in concert? Most of the hypotheticals described above are too extreme to reflect reality. The only real exception is file-sharing, which is extreme.

Do the moral worriers here also disapprove of libraries? Because of digital, we seem to be hand-wringing our way toward rewriting the history of intellectual property in Western civilization...

"Do the moral worriers here also disapprove of libraries?"

No. But you are not permitted to photocopy library books, nor to borrow CDs and tapes and duplicate them. You may borrow them, then give them back, but not retain a copy as Herman is proposing to do.

You CAN photocopy library books. That's why all libraries have copy machines.

What is the claimed injury by the RIAA if I purchased an album, rip it to my hard drive and then resell the original album? The artist, record company, distributor and retailer have all been duly compensated by my original purchase. If the claim is my single sale on the used album market somehow depresses new album sales, then isn't that the same thing as Ford arguing that used car sales depress new car sales. In both cases they are correct, but the used market in both industries is still legal. It's interesting that on a site the specializes in used audio equipment that people are so down on people reselling items.

Highway 61, Your analogy doesn't hold up. You can't sell a car AND continue to drive it. You can sell a cd AND continue to listen to it via a copy. You better believe if you bought a Ford and then started to sell copies of it that they would squash you like a bug.

Nobody is down on re-selling, they are down on reselling and continuing to use what they sold.

You are confused, just as I was because you equate the value of a cd as being contained in the physical object. It is not. It is the data that the disc holds that has the value. When the CD was purchased the artist wasn't compensated for the disc that held the music, they were compensated for one copy of their music. What you buy is not a disc, it is the right to use what is on that disc. When you sell the disc you are giving up your right to use it.

The artist was compensated for a copy. Every time a new copy is sold they should receive a cut of it no matter where that copy came from just like every time it is played on the radio they get paid.

If you make a copy and sell that copy it is illegal. If you make a copy, keep the copy and sell the original it is illegal. In both cases you have taken a legally purchased single copy and turned it into 2 copies.

Do you think it is fair use to use pirated copies of computer software? I bet not if you were in the business of selling software.

How about hooking up to your neighbors cable TV so you don't have to pay? Doesn't cost the cable company anymore to feed to 2 houses instead of one. Ask the cable company and the courts how they feel about that issue.

If you can honestly answer the following question with a yes then you can continue to pirate software with a clear conscience.... If you made your living as a musician and received your income from the sale of your music, would you agree that it is fair for someone to possess a copy of it without having paid for it?