niftydrifty

In the late 1980's, the Beatles' catalog was released on CD. At the time, digital technology was not that robust, and the quality of the sound of these CDs is not on a par of current digitally mastered material.

20 years out, some Beatles' fans are tired of waiting for remasters of Beatles CDs. They're fed up and have taken matters into their own hands. One fan has even spent countless hours obtaining never (or rarely) played vinyl copies of old LPs, and has transferred them to CD using very nice equipment, and has achieved some pretty stellar results.

The 125-Plus People, Places and Things Ruling the Rock & Roll Universe : Rolling Stone

Once you hear these versions (I have them all), there is no going back to the EMI versions. Is it ethical or legal for fans to give copies of these superior CDs to each other for free? Does EMI suck for not remastering this material? What do you think?

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"I admit it. The liberal media were never that powerful, and the whole thing was often used as an excuse by conservatives for conservative failures." - Bill Kristol

rathi

Its not currently legal under U.S. copyright law to distribute copyrighted material without a license or ownership. However, I would say its ethical. Copyright has been extended through corporate bribery, retro-active laws and a complete perversion of the constitutional provision of copyright. Copyright from 40 year old songs should have expired long ago under a just system. The current system is nothing but a sham designed to increase Disney's profits.

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He'd be right at home on some ancient battlefield, swinging an axe into somebody's face.

Fiddytree

Well, if we are talking a distribution network the size of Bittorrent, then I would say, it is a bad idea. There is no question that once you provide the material to more than yourself, you have already broken the law (let alone all of the fun dispute over the DMCA stomping on Fair Use rights). But, a few people here or there that get to hear the little secret is in my books an acceptable margin of loss.