I’m still not clear on the copyright. If CD-R (or Music CD-R) is intended for personal backup only then there is no need for any royalties, since I paid them once buying CD. If small royalties are paid per CDR than copying friend’s CD should be considered legal. Non-commercial sharing between friends or family was considered in 1989 a "Home use" and was legal according to government.
http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/ota/Ota_2/DATA/1989/8910.PDFpage 5, right column:
Legal Status of Home Copying as Private Use-In this report, OTA defines “home copying” (of copyrighted materials) as an essentially private, noncommercial activity, so that “home copies” includes copies shared with or given to friends, but not homemade copies that are bought or sold. This definition is consistent with the definition of private use in the 1986 OTA report on intellectual property.
One can argue, that only fraction of royalties were paid on CD-R, but remember that most of people use CD-Rs for the other purpose, including data, or personal backup, where royalties are not necessary - more than making up for the difference. It can also be argued, that stores loose business when people copy CDs, but furniture stores also loose business when people make their own furniture. People who produced media (CD-Rs) and artists were paid - no harm done?
Here is the list of the media levy in different countries, including US:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_copying_levy
