Legal Question in Business Law in Illinois

My question: How do I get permissions to transcribe an old audio cassette tape to CD from a copyright holder who is in a different country (S. Korea)?

Context for this need: I don't speak Korean but the music on that tape has sentimental value to me. I want to save it from becoming lost due to the disappearance of the cassette tape format. But, I also want to respect copyright laws of other cultures/countries, and I hear South Korea has pretty strict copyright habits.

What I've done so far: I have googled the company but they appear to not have a web presence or perhaps have been renamed.


Asked on 8/15/13, 5:59 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
David K. Staub Staub Anderson LLC

Are you just planning to convert it for personal use and not for resale? If that is the case, in most countries, making a copy in another format for personal use is "fair use" and would not infringe the copyright.

As for how to get permission, that can be a tough job even where there is no language barrier. Even if a company goes out of business, usually its assets go somewhere. In a liquidation, someone typically buys the assets. I don't have any specific suggestions for tracking down a South Korean company other than perhaps hiring someone to do a search in S. Korea.

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Answered on 9/05/13, 2:31 pm


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