Russian Music Sites

kida

Has there been anything definitive about their legaility in Ireland? Personally cannot see how they could be illegal as what is the difference between ordering a CD from another country and using these sites?

stovelid

I assume it's not like P2P where you are personally liable, as you are making the files available yourself. If the site is legal in their jurisdiction, they are the ones liable, not the consumers.

Not sure though. I'm sure somebody who knows more about it will clarify.

rowlandbrowner

kida wrote: »

Personally cannot see how they could be illegal as what is the difference between ordering a CD from another country and using these sites?

If the data in question is on a computer that’s sitting on a desk somewhere in the Russian Federation then it’s subject to different laws than the same data stored on your machine in the Republic of Ireland, I assume.

kida

what is the difference between me going to US/Asia and buying a CD for 1/2 price than here and bringing it back or buying music from a website that is sellign it legally in their country?

John

It's legal-ish in Russia but that doesn't make it right. No artist gets a penny from those sales so you may as well download them for free online than pay someone for the priviledge.

kida

Hi John,
not speaking morally - just wondering what the legal standing is

John

It's a big grey area, as I said they have a legal-ish status in Russia because they conform (barely) to the fairly loose copyright laws there. However, they don't fulfill their obligations under the law as they do not pay the necessary royalties. As for their legal standing, these sites are not licensed to sell digital copies outside of Russia (and in some cases, inside of Russia). According to the BPI, as they are not licensed to sell outside of Russia, it is illegal to purchase them from the UK at least. I'm sure IRMA will say the same thing.

Ponster

As has already been mentioned, rather than giving your $$$ to some Russian guy why not download the same music from torrents and not give money to anyone?

I'm not condoning music piracy but people who use these sites shouldn't feel that because they are paying something for the music means that it makes everything alright.

John that link is 2 years old and things have changed a bit since then. allofmp3 has been closed down but a sister site was created and is using a different license to sell within Russia "Federation for Collective Copyright Management of Works Used Interactively (FAIR)"

grumpytrousers

well said Ponster. bloody hate people using these russian sites and then pleading 'but they're legal'...

at 1c a song, there's no way in hell that the original provider of the content (the musician) is getting anything. If you want music that cheap, just get it off a torrent and chuck a few euro into the next charity bucket you see on the street.

---

Now playing: Barenaked Ladies - Pinch Me
via FoxyTunes

John

Ponster wrote: »

John that link is 2 years old and things have changed a bit since then. allofmp3 has been closed down but a sister site was created and is using a different license to sell within Russia "Federation for Collective Copyright Management of Works Used Interactively (FAIR)"

That's the newest one I could find (I didn't look hard). Cheers for the info.

loyatemu

Ponster wrote: »

As has already been mentioned, rather than giving your $$$ to some Russian guy why not download the same music from torrents and not give money to anyone?

ease of use - BT is clunky and unreliable. The russian sites (though I haven't used them since AllofMP3 were shutdown) are comparable to iTunes for userfriendliness and range of content. Plus you can choose your format and bitrate which you can't do anywhere else.

As usual the record companies are fighting when they should be learning - give the public a keenly priced and versatile service that is not locked down by pointless DRM and people are willing to pay. I'm not saying they should be selling their albums for $1 a pop, but frequently it costs more to download an album than it does to buy the CD, which is madness.

Ponster

loyatemu wrote: »

ease of use - BT is clunky and unreliable. The russian sites (though I haven't used them since AllofMP3 were shutdown) are comparable to iTunes for userfriendliness and range of content. Plus you can choose your format and bitrate which you can't do anywhere else.

I haven't had the time to look but I don't know of any of the 'Russian' sites that offer re-encoding features the way allofmp3 did allowing you to download files and choose the quality of the download offered.
I'd arguee that BT is highly reliable as long as your source if reliable in the first place. The only thing you could compare allofmp3 to in terms of service is Oink! (now dead) where files were monitered for quality.