Legal Question in Technology Law in Texas

Re: Legality of digital music storing

Because it deprives the record label of one CD sale every time it is done. Copyright infringement is illegal whether or not the infringer makes any money at it, because it deprives the copyright owner of the revenue that is the incentive for the creation of artistic works.

I suppose you would also think the person you sell to could copy the CD to his or her hard disk and repeat the process, and that the next, and next and next and next one could, too. And, each of those probably has a CD burner, so why couldn't they burn a CD "just as a backup"? And, then why couldn't they sell that backup? One purchased CD could produce an infinite number of illegal copies. Where would the process end? The answer is it is illegal for it to begin. Once you copy it to the hard disk you are an infringer unless the copy is purely a backup which will be deleted if the CD is transferred to someone else.