Record industry trying to fight ability of music fans to make private digital copies of physical CDs.
The German Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe recently upheld provision 53 of that country’s copyright law against a legal challenge by the record industry whom have against the provision for allowing digital copying of CDs for private use.
The court dismissed the claim on technical grounds because the provision was part of the copyright law of 2003, and a claim has to be filed within one year of it taking effect.
The record industry had been trying to argue that it could challenge the provision based on the fact that the country’s copyright law was later revised again in 2008, resetting the clock for a potential challenge.
The court found that the provision allowing digital copying of CDs for private use was part of the 2003 copyright law and not the later revision and therefore unable to be challenged.
“The interpretation of the German Federal Constitutional Court is controversial, also among experts of German constitutional law,” said Stefan Michalk, managing director of the association of the German music-industry (BVMI). “Before filing the claim we were aware of the risks, but we had to take our chance because the fact of whether private copying is legal or not is of such a big importance for the record business. For us it is still very questionable that the court refused our claim for formal reasons.”
What’s sad is that the music industry would even try to fight the ability of music fans to make backup copies of purchased CDs. It’s emblematic of its long history of doing all it can to enrage its customers in the pursuit of maximizing profits.
But, it’s worth mentioning the music industry’s not alone. The MPAA has also argued that making even one copy of a DVD is illegal.
Stay tuned.
