halachic question
Question
Kavod harav, hello. I have been a very big supporter of your website and very grateful for the chesed you are constantly doing for klal yisrael. I have a semi-serious question that,if possible,id like to have answered before rosh hashana. Now i know you have addressed this isssue many times but ive never seen a difinitive answer. For me, Rav Abadi is my posek for all halachic questions that come up in america I would like to just know exactly what the rav would do. One of the rabbis at my yeshivah explained to me that many poskim hold that its assur to copy cds or programs because its stealing. 1)According to the rav is this true? 2)if it is should i dispose of all the things i have? 3)and is there any hiluk between those whch are made from a jew and those from a goiy? Thank you very much and I hope you have a wonderful new year Tekatev vetechatem leshana tova umetukah! michael
Answer
Answered by Aaron AbadiI searched & searched & can only find this.... and it is OK, until someone proves otherwise. From FAQ.org. "This issue has been argued back and forth for many years, with consumers groups arguing that this was a fair use (see sections 2.8 and 2.9), and the recording industry arguing that it was not. The issue was finally settled by Congress when the Audio Home Recording Act (AHRA) (P.L. 102- 563, 106 Stat. 4237, codified at 17 U.S.C. 1001 - 1010) was passed in October 1992. This Act added ten sections to Title 17, one of which provided an alternative to the fair use analysis for musical recordings. The new section states: No action may be brought under this title alleging infringement of copyright based on the manufacture, importation, or distribution of a digital audio recording device, a digital audio recording medium, an analog recording device, or an analog recording medium, or based on the noncommercial use by a consumer of such a device or medium for making digital musical recordings or analog musical recordings. 17 U.S.C. 1008. As the legislative history to this statute noted, "In short, the reported legislation would clearly establish that consumers cannot be sued for making analog or digital audio copies for private noncommercial use." H.R. Rep. 102-780(I). Does this mean you can make copies for your family and friends, as long as it's not "commercial?" A strict reading of the words in the statute would seem to say that you may. This is not as outrageous as it sounds. Part of the impetus behind the AHRA was the perception that blank tapes were being used mostly to copy commercial musical sound recordings. As a result, the AHRA provided that a royalty payment (referred to as a "DAT tax" by its detractors) be paid for each sale of digital audio tape to compensate authors of musical works and sound recordings for the profits lost due to these copies. See 17 U.S.C. 1003, 1004. Arguably, the AHRA anticipates and allows exactly this type of copying, and a literal reading of section 1008 would tend to support this position. But the AHRA is still sufficiently new this hasn't been tested in court yet." AA