http://www.soundexchangeblog.com/?p=91

No.

Just to expand a little on my brief (!) answer above.

SoudExchange is royalty collection agency based in the US. As such, they do not have any legal jurisdiction outside of the US. Royalties are collected on a per. country basis and whilst there are (some) reciprocal agreements in place between countries there isn't an 'International Royalties Collection Agency' of any kind.

Having read the article mentioned above, I laughed-out-loud when I read the line that '... small pureplay webcasters (defined as those earning $1.25 million or less ...'. As S.A. currently runs at a loss of several thousand pounds a year, this really is referring to a different kind of Broadcasting altogether - let alone in a different country.

It's also a point of interest that the UK copyright laws are (still) due to be overhauled. Admittedly, this has been mooted for some time now. Did you know that anybody in the UK could receive a four year jail term and an unlimited fine for copying a CD that they legally bought onto their PC or iPod / MP3 player ?

From another post that I made within a different board on the subject :-


Having reviewed the copyright law in 16 different countries, a consumer council has placed the UK at the bottom of the list.

"The current system puts unrealistic limits on our listening and viewing habits and is rapidly losing credibility among consumers. A broad 'fair use' exception would bring us in line with consumer expectations, technology and the rest of the world."

"It is currently a copyright violation [in the UK] to rip a CD that you own on to your PC or iPod," said Consumer Focus, "even though over half (55%) of British consumers admit to doing it and three in five (59%) think this type of copying is perfectly legal."

Read the full story here :-

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8000876.stm

Darren,

Thanks for the updated reply. I also laughed when I saw the definition of "small"...

I'm glad you can just continue as before. I still get new music ideas from you (my CD spending hasn't stopped yet).

Alan

I agree alan. What about ripping in germany??
other laws??
I get up, I get down just listen to,,,beautiful, not ripping I have it already. ;)

Laws on such things are driven on a per. country basis, Wolf. I have no idea what the German laws are on such matters.

Also, 'ripping' in this context refers to simply copying a CD that you've bought and own onto say, your PC or iPod / MP3 player.

for my understanding Darren:
lightyears ago I had a very small casettrecorder with buildin radio.
So I was recording my fav radiostations every day.
It was the same as today not ripping, just recording.