Getting rid of CD's?

[Grayson64]

Would like to post a somewhat philosophical question.  I have a relatively large CD collection (about 1200 CD's), but ALL are recorded in Apple lossless format with sufficient backup (to ensure I will not lose the files later). My question: should I now get rid of the source CD's?  This is an issue because I am downsizing into a smaller home now that my kids are all moved away, and room for the CD's is becoming a challenge.

 

On the keep side, I have spent several decades accumulating the collection. I am reluctant to let them go in case I might need them again.

 

On the get rid of side, for the vast majority of the collection, I seldom use the actual CD.  Just listen to the digital copy.  For all practical purposes, I live in a "playlist world" where I seldom listen to all the contents of a single CD. 

 

I am beginning to feel keeping them may just be an unreasonable fear of change.  

 

Any thoughts from the forum?  

 

Thanks,

Grayson

 

[Speed Racer]

What do you men by "get rid of"? If you mean destroy, that's only a good option if you absolutely have no room for them. If "get rid of" means sell or even give away, that would be ethically wrong if you keep your copies.

[Grayson64]

Of course, destroying is not the alternative.  Giving away, selling, donating, etc.. I do not believe ethics is involved.  I have owned these many years.  Unlikely I will "make" money on the purchase.  Considering the local library as an option. 

[Paul R]

Hate to say it, but your license to play the music --> probably <-- depends upon your ownership of the physical CDs. Meaning if you keep the music on disk, you may be required to keep the discs too. 

 

[Speed Racer]

If you sell them, give them away, or donate them to a Library, you would need to delete or destroy any copies that you have. Just ask the Record Label if I am wrong......

[Ralf11]

OP - are you in the US?

 

if so, loan them to a friend for listening only and you need not ask for them back

 

if not, you can probably do whatever you want with them legally

[ted_b]

I agree with Speed Racer.  There is no giving them away; either hang on to them or throw them away, since you have their digital copy.

 

Question:  what about the vinyl we own?  I realize that it is not a medium that is inherently rippable, but now there are forums about "needledrops" and their hirez abilities.  Is it only those that have been digitally transcibed that are not sellable/give-away-able? 

[George Hincapie]

Jesus - what a bunch of squares. You've bought the discs, do what you want with them. 

[joelha]

I'm with Ted here.

 

How does the artist or music vendor make money if people hand out copies of their music?

 

Square? Being moral about your purchase isn't square.

 

As for the practical aspect, ditch the jewel cases and put the cd's into sleeves as I did. You'll save a ton of space and keep an archive of your music in case any of your files go bad . . . and believe me they can.

 

Good luck.

 

Joel

 

 

[Speed Racer]

17 minutes ago, George Hincapie said:

Jesus - what a bunch of squares. You've bought the discs, do what you want with them. 

 

You mean like pirate them?

 

Let's go out a buy a 60 CD set classical music. I'll rip them and give them to you. You rip them and give them to your buddy Lance Armstrong. He rips them and gives them to Matthew McConaughey.....but  didn't know you were going give them to Lance. Guess what, what we did is not legal.....

 

There is no difference to that and what Grayson is proposing to do.

[George Hincapie]

How is he pirating them? He's paid for them you tool. He can do what he likes, it's none of your business. I don't know why he even bothered asking any of you.

[esldude]

Legally you don't own the music.  If you sell the disc or give it away, you aren't supposed to keep copies.  I don't know where we stand in the USA in regards to the idea of a long term loan.  Maybe you shouldn't listen to the music while it is on loan either. 

 

As for ethics, I think of other factors.  I have purchased some music as tape, as LP, and as CD.  I didn't have the option to deduct the licensing and royalties I already paid for the first time.  Maybe it would have been a dollar off each extra purchase.  Still no avenue is available for me to do such a thing.   Maybe an LP wore out, did I have the chance to get a replacement copy minus licensing and royalties to replace it?  Nope no one worried about that.  So in my mind the ethics of selling CDs you have copied is not clear cut the way the legality is.  If I have paid the fees for use thrice, am I not allowed to give two of those rights away and keep one.  If someone gave me LPs and I had three, I could legally give or sell two of them and continue listening to the one I retained. 

 

Also notice how downloads of music and books work.  I pay the price for rights to use the work personally.  Like a Kindle book.  I may swap devices, or use multiple devices and lose the copies.  I do have the chance to download them anew free of charge.  I paid for the fee, and Amazon keeps records of it, and I can get new copies as needed.  I just can't circulate multiple copies.  I can digitally loan them to those I know, but they aren't accessible to me until the other person is done with their copy.

[Speed Racer]

4 minutes ago, George Hincapie said:

How is he pirating them? He's paid for them you tool. He can do what he likes, it's none of your business. I don't know why he even bothered asking any of you.

 

When he gives the CDs away, he is giving his right to have a backup copy away. So no, he can't do what he likes.

[joelha]

13 minutes ago, George Hincapie said:

How is he pirating them? He's paid for them you tool. He can do what he likes, it's none of your business. I don't know why he even bothered asking any of you.

After only 93 posts, you're doing a great job of ingratiating yourself with the CA community.

 

You might reconsider your tone. Everybody's got opinions.

 

But no one else is name calling.

 

Joel

[sdolezalek]

Simple question: If you destroy or give away the CD's, how could you ever prove that you have a valid license to the digital copies you kept of those CD's?  Even if you kept all your receipts for the purchases, how could you prove that you didn't sell the CD's?

 

Just because a lot of people own "pirated" copies of music in digital form doesn't make it legal.  Ultimately, our ability to obtain music (whether legally or illegally) depends on artists being able to produce it and most artists can't produce music if they don't get paid for doing so.

 

Music today, whether in CD form, or streamed through Tidal, Spotify, Pandora et al, or purchased through iTunes, is so cheap that most of us have no excuse not to pay for our listening pleasure.  

 

To the OP, if storage is the issue, there are certainly places where you can store a box of CDs in an environment where they don't deteriorate and that wouldn't cost much.  If you ever do tire of listening to their music, I'm sure someone would appreciate both the Cds and your digital copies thereof.  

[sdolezalek]

5 minutes ago, joelha said:

After only 93 posts, you're doing a great job of ingratiating yourself with the CA community.

 

You might reconsider your tone. Everybody's got opinions.

 

But no one else is name calling.

 

Joel

 Given that he ("George Hincapie") has taken the name of a famous cyclist as his handle, it would seem  he doesn't have much regard for copyright or other concepts of ownership. 

[esldude]

19 minutes ago, sdolezalek said:

 Given that he ("George Hincapie") has taken the name of a famous cyclist as his handle, it would seem  he doesn't have much regard for copyright or other concepts of ownership. 

Maybe he is the famous cyclist.

 

Or maybe he is not and yet his name is George Hincapie.

 

My actual name is one of a famous fictional person.  More than once someone has assumed I was using the character name and not believe it was my name. 

 

Beside that you don't own your name nor can you apply copyrights or similar rights of ownership.  One can even legally change names. 

[Ralf11]

In the US legally you don't own the music.  AFAIK, he does own it if in the EU and many other places.

 

As for ethics, send the artist 2 or 3 cents and pay the rest to the recording company.

[esldude]

How about this, I know someone who had this happen by the way.

 

You have digital copies of your CDs, and someone breaks in and steals the physical CDs.  Do the rights go with the physical carbonate disc even though stolen from you or do you retain rightful right of use even though you don't have the physical disc?  Is it dependent upon you showing in some way there was a theft of your discs?

 

Ethically I don't even see a question you should continue using your digital copies of discs physically stolen from you.

[esldude]

5 minutes ago, Ralf11 said:

In the US legally you don't own the music.  AFAIK, he does own it if in the EU and many other places.

 

As for ethics, send the artist 2 or 3 cents and pay the rest to the recording company.

What if I buy my discs in the USA and move to Europe?  Do I lack rights to listen to those discs in Europe or do I now magically own the music giving me instant access to keep copies as I wish?

[fas42]

26 minutes ago, esldude said:

My actual name is one of a famous fictional person.  More than once someone has assumed I was using the character name and not believe it was my name. 

 

Ahhh ... Dennis the Menace, I'm pleased to make your aquaintance ...

[BigAlMc]

@Grayson64 I read your post as primarily being about storage vs the value / nostalgia of holding onto the physical copies. As such the ethics element is kind of a sideshow assuming you weren't looking to profit. Donating them to a charity shop for instance might be legally dubious but reasonable for the conscience. 

 

Personally I'd hold onto them as the physical cd is nice to hold/feel and may contain memories down the line that the digital copy doesn't. Also who is to know what format we'll be using in 10 to 20 years time and whether ripping again from the cd will be advantageous vs converting from FLAC / AIFF etc. It probably won't be, but who really knows. 

 

If storage is your main driver the advice around getting rid of the cases and keeping sleeves & discs is sound. 

 

FWIW I lost CD's twice. Once I sold loads. The other time I was burgled. I regretted both and ended up buying many of them again. The originals have sentimental value. Even if the convenience of browsing via a streamer makes playing the actual cd a rare event. 

[Ralf11]

29 minutes ago, esldude said:

What if I buy my discs in the USA and move to Europe?  Do I lack rights to listen to those discs in Europe or do I now magically own the music giving me instant access to keep copies as I wish?

 

It depends.  Did you buy the discs with mobile rights or the stationary ones?

[esldude]

15 minutes ago, Ralf11 said:

 

It depends.  Did you buy the discs with mobile rights or the stationary ones?

Well I don't recall having that choice at the checkout counter.

 

If I take them to Australia do I need to get the right to spin them upside down and backwards or buy all new Aussie discs?

[AnotherSpin]

What about making rips and backups, is it legal?