Ford, GM Sued Over Vehicles' Ability To Rip CD Music To Hard Drive 317
Lucas123 writes: The Alliance of Artists and Recording Companies is suing Ford and General Motors for millions of dollars over alleged copyrights infringement violations because their vehicles' CD players can rip music to infotainment center hard drives. The AARC claims in its filing (PDF) that the CD player's ability to copy music violates the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992. The Act protects against distributing digital audio recording devices whose primary purpose is to rip copyrighted material. For example, Ford's owner's manual explains, "Your mobile media navigation system has a Jukebox which allows you to save desired tracks or CDs to the hard drive for later access. The hard drive can store up to 10GB (164 hours; approximately 2,472 tracks) of music." The AARC wants $2,500 for each digital audio recording device installed in a vehicle, the amount it says should have been paid in royalties.
Car analogy? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Time Shifting? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Time Shifting? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:A car's PRIMARY purpose is TRANSPORTATION ! (Score:4, Funny)
No, a car's primary purpose is picking up chicks. Getting around is just a by-product of its intended function.
Paying their clients (Score:5, Funny)
Maybe they're just being frugal. Maybe they're trying to pass on as much money to the artists they represent as possible.
Re:Time Shifting? (Score:5, Funny)
This is totally a trolling lawsuit. I mean, just look at their website [aarcroyalties.com].
It's fucking stock wordpress.
So, a major company uses open source software and Slashdot complains about it? There's just no winning.....
Re:Good luck with that. (Score:5, Funny)
I take my CD out, rip it, then disassemble the car's audio system and pull the hard drive. Take it to my home computer and upload the files.
Piece'o'cake, why do you think I bought my car, anyway? Driving? Hahahahahahahaha.....
Re: 1st? (Score:5, Funny)
but doesn't having 10GB of ripped Justin Beiber songs raise the resale value of a car...
No, I think that would take this from being legal to being a crime.
Re:Car analogy? (Score:5, Funny)
Could someone explain this to me with a car analogy?
Imagine you have an iPhone, and you rip CDs in iTunes to fill it up with copies of your music. Now, you want to go down to that place on the corner where they serve really good lunch. You put in your earbuds, crank up the ripped music, and start walking to lunch. As you proceed down the street, a lonely old man staggers and falls. You rush over to help him, and realize he's having a heart attack. You use your iPhone to call for emergency services, and wait with the man for help to arrive. While you are sitting on the sidewalk, and a greasy man in a cheap suit walks up and says "I'm a lawyer, and I'm going to sue you for not saving this man's life." Just then, a cop driving a Ford screeches to a halt, running over the lawyer, backing up, and hitting him again.
It's the opposite of that.
HTH. HAND.
Re:Good luck with that. (Score:5, Funny)
Yeah yeah, I do it all the time. My car is my primary CD ripping device.
I take my CD out, rip it, then disassemble the car's audio system and pull the hard drive. Take it to my home computer and upload the files.
Piece'o'cake, why do you think I bought my car, anyway? Driving? Hahahahahahahaha.....
That's nothing. I've set up a massive file-sharing service based around these systems. And it's completely undercover; to the casual observer, it looks like a used-car lot!
Re:Time Shifting? (Score:2, Funny)
You're very wrong. Any of these car owners can now borrow audio CDs from friends or their local library and store a copy of the songs they like in their cars -- easy theft and copyright infringement.