http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2...-cds-musicians
I am finding it hard to keep up.
Until October last year it was unlawful to copy your own CDs / DVDs for your own use. Everybody did it even though they shouldn't have. Then the government introduced regulations making it lawful. This made not a jot of difference to everyone who did it anyway.
Now the courts have decided that the government's regulations were flawed and should not have been introduced. The regs have been quashed so it is now unlawful once again to copy your own CDs / DVDs. This will make not a bit of difference to anyone as everyone does it anyway and will continue to do so regardless of what the law says or the courts decide.
(Have I got it right so far???)
So, copying your legally bought CDs to MP3 format or ipod or anything else FOR YOUR OWN USE is now unlawful again. (Obviously, copying for the purpose of sharing is illegal - but the court case was not about that.)
The issue surrounds a compensation scheme for rights holders for the loss of revenue they suffer when you copy and convert your CDs to MP3s (or whatever) instead of buying the different format. I think.
The government argued that there was no loss of revenue so no case for compensation, but the court disagreed. I suppose this paves the way for a "tax" on media such as blank CDs or hard drives so that the rights holders get their compensation (compare with blank audio and video tapes from times gone by).