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Any copyright lawyers lurking?

This is a question regarding the personal recording of vinyl to digital. I believe it was tested in the courts and upheld whereby an individual could record vinyl (at the time to tape). What is the consensus on the legality to record vinyl to digital. Ok, that question is likely a simple yes, it is ok. Here's the real question I'm getting to: let's say I record a perfect vinyl album (some of these could include super high quality 45 rpm remasters) to DSD at the highest quality possible, may I share it legally with a friend whom I am absolutely certain owns a legal copy (whether CD or Vinyl) of the material?

Thanks in advance for the discussion.
ghasley
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,226 posts
 
Even if your friend owns a legal copy of the work, giving him a non-legally purchased copy is an infringement of the copyright holder's interest. When you purchased the record you did not buy a license to distribute the music on the record in alternate formats. It doesn't matter whether money is involved in the exchange.
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ghasley OP
2,499 posts
 
Thanks for the replies. My initial feelings on this issue were closest to what Elizabeth so eloquently stated. I originally told my buddy that he could bring his albums over and record them for his use only. It does create an ironic inflection point whereby fair use of the purchased analog record could/might be superceded by the Digital Copyright Act...or vice versa. Who knows and I assure you I don't care enough about this potential pitfall to be a test case!

Thanks all
mikeinsacramento
5 posts
 
If your friend already has a copy of the product, why would he need yours? Just asking. I'm not an attorney, but if I were, I would start there.
ghasley OP
2,499 posts
 
Mike, excellent question. He has a decent copy of "Green Street" by Grant Green on Blue Note. A good recording on decent vinyl....several scratches but nothing out of the ordinary. I have the Hoffman/Gray Acoustech remastered reissue from Blue note on 200g vinyl 45 rpm. I ripped my copy to my computer using DSD and then ripped it down to multiple sample rates to see if I could hear a material difference. I enlisted his ears to assist me....not really a blind test but he didnt know which version was playing. He was astounded at every sample rate and asked me to give him the files. We then discussed the slippery slope. We jointly surmised that to follow the letter of the law, he would need to "borrow" my album and its "digital archive" for evaluation in his system.

Now i have no intention of distributing digital copies of my music to anyone but i dont see anything wrong with loaning them mine or assisting them by recording their album. In this case what really caused me to pause, and a key fact that i intentionally did not mention initially in this posting, was that I would believe my remastered Grant Green album to be a "different" recording than what he has. It just started me thinking and i thought i would pose the question to the audiophile community and get some broad, generic input. Regards
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