Legal Question in Entertainment Law in New York
Transfering old records to CD
Is there a law that prohibits the transfer of old records like 78 and 33 or tape cassettes that cannot be purchased on CD due to their age to CD? The music isn't being sold, nor are there multiple copies being made, it is just the service of transfering the music to a CD via a computer program that gets the scratches and excess noise from being old off the record or tape.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Transfering old records to CD
If you are not making money out of it and you own the original records, tapes etc, then I think you have a right to do it. Moreover, nobody is likely to care. Practically, are you doing this in volume greater than your own collection?
While the copyright law protects the copyright owner's right to make copies, I think there is an exception both in caselaw and practice for personal copies used by the purchaser/owner of the particular copy of the record, tape, etc.