American Teens Confused By Copyright Law

In a recent poll taken among teens aged 12 to 17, 69 percent said they believed it was legal to copy a CD from a friend who purchased the original. By comparison, only 21 percent said it was legal to copy a CD if a friend got the music for free.

Similarly, 58 percent thought it was legal to copy a friend's purchased DVD or videotape, but only 19 percent thought copying was legal if the movie wasn't purchased.

Those figures are a big problem for the Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America, both of which have spent millions of dollars to deter copying of any kind. The music industry now considers so-called ''school-yard'' piracy — copies of physical discs given to friends and classmates — a greater threat than illegal peer-to-peer downloading, according to the RIAA.

Similarly, an MPAA spokesman said that in the United States, copying and reproducing DVDs is a bigger problem than illegal downloading of movies.

''We've made substantial progress educating people that downloading copyrighted music for free is illegal,'' said Mitch Bainwol, RIAA chairman. ''But we still confront a significant challenge educating kids that copying a CD for a friend is also a crime. This is a major focus for the entire industry.''

Indeed, years of anti-downloading campaigns seem to be working: 80 percent of teens surveyed in the poll said downloading free music from unauthorized computer networks was a crime. Much of that might stem from highly publicized crackdowns on online music sharing. A 2004 study by The Pew Internet & American Life Project found that close to 6 million Americans had stopped downloading unauthorized tunes because of lawsuits filed by the RIAA.

But when it comes to stopping people from copying physical CDs, high-profile lawsuits are much less likely to occur. Prosecutors say it would be next to impossible to get one teen to testify in court that another had slipped them a copied disc at lunchtime. And besides, isn't sharing music a time-honored part of teen friendship?

''It's pretty confusing,'' said Collins, who was interviewed after participating in the poll.

Even lawyers say the law is hard to understand. Distributing free copies of a purchased CD or DVD is only a federal crime if the value of the copied discs exceeds $1,000, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Elena Duarte.

But giving away even one copied disc may be a civil violation.

''A strict interpretation of the law says that if making a copy robs the marketplace of a sale, it is prohibited,'' said attorney Mark Radcliffe, a copyright expert at DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary. ''So anyone giving a copy to a friend could technically be sued. But there is some sentiment that as long as people are only giving copies to families and a few friends, it's probably OK. But how many friends should one person have?''

In the past decade, copyright activists and entertainment companies have battled over that very question. Courts have generally avoided commenting on the appropriateness of copying CDs for friends or how many friends constitutes a copyright violation. But music and film companies have argued that any sharing violates the copyright code.

However, free-speech advocates say the copyright laws were never intended to stop kids from giving mix-CDs to friends. In fact, some say, because music is as much about personal expression as listening pleasure, sharing is integral to why songs have value in the first place.

''I rely on my instinct to determine what's right and wrong about sharing music,'' said Annette Cook, a 21-year-old senior at San Diego State University who participated in the poll. ''If my friend makes me a copy of a CD they purchased, it's not really stealing, it's spreading interest in a band. That's how I learn about music I end up buying.''

The RIAA and MPAA hope that attitude will wane. To that end, the RIAA is sponsoring school programs to convince students that any kind of copying — what they call ''songlifting'' — is a crime.

''Songlifting is like shoplifting, and that means it's wrong,'' reads a lesson plan the group sent to middle school teachers.

The MPAA is also sponsoring school programs to discourage piracy.

Their efforts may be working. Younger poll respondents were more likely than older peers to believe that copying CDs and DVDs breaks the law, and only 25 percent of teens said they had a friend who illegally downloaded music, compared to 33 percent of young adults.

Even Collins is beginning to reconsider his position. After the mix-CD he made to woo a classmate failed to impress (''She said 'thanks,' but that was about it,'' he said), he started rethinking his attitude about copying CDs.

''I used to make two copies of each CD I bought for friends, but I think I'm going to stop doing that,'' said Collins, who, admittedly, was speaking within earshot of his mother. ''I play the piano and the trumpet, so I understand what it's like to be a musician. I don't think its right to gyp anyone out of making money.''

That, says Collins' mother, is music to her ears.

''We've tried to use CD copying to teach bigger lessons about morality,'' said Jill Collins, 47. ''Things are so different now. The Internet makes the world a lot more complicated. If we can get right and wrong down on small things like copying music, hopefully bigger things will be clearer down the road.''

Story source: mcall.com.