Z:gnu-www-ja-reevaluating-copyright--9e0f87-This analysis also explains wh/en

This analysis also explains why it makes sense for the Grateful Dead to insist on copyright for CD manufacturing but not for individual copying. CD production works like the printing press; it is not feasible today for ordinary people, even computer owners, to copy a CD into another CD. Thus, copyright for publishing CDs of music remains painless for music listeners, just as all copyright was painless in the age of the printing press. To restrict copying the same music onto a digital audio tape does hurt the listeners, however, and they are entitled to reject this restriction. (1999 note: the practical situation for CDs has changed, in that many ordinary computer users can now copy CDs. This means that we should now consider CDs more like tapes. 2007 clarification: notwithstanding the improvement in CD technology, it still makes sense to apply copyright to commercial distribution while letting individuals copy freely.)