I hope this goes some way to explaining why you find yourself in this position.M4P is an audio file format that is used and created specifically for the iTunes. In other words, we can make a backup copy of our music. Apple no longer use copy protection, but technically, it is still illegal to make copies of any digital music you buy - except for reasonable backups and for use on portable players. If we sell the CD, while keeping our digital copy, we break copyright law. although legally, if we copy a CD into iTunes, we need to keep the CD copy.

We can copy music into iTunes - and again onto our iPod etc. So what has changed is that the music industry (which has successfully managed to kill itself without out help) has now taken a more pragmatic approach. Once that happened, it came as little surprise to me that such copies were protected against copying. Then came selling digital copies of music online. Hopefully, Apple won't mind me saying, but my guess is that the prime reason for not being able to copy from an iPod to iTunes was to placate the music industry.

The fact that you and I might simply want to record our grandparents talking about the past never entered the music industry's head.Īlong came the digital format (MP3 etc.). Some countries even went so far as introducing a tape levy an additional cost on top of the purchase price, intended (loosely) to be given to the copyright owners in payment of the 'copy' you and I might make of their music. Nothing changed with the compact disc making a copy was still illegal. The reality of course, was that the music industry was going to have a hard time enforcing it. In the music industry's head, we should have purchased the pre-recorded cassette for use in the car, even though we already had the LP. Perhaps you recall the campaign logo: a silhouette of cassette (that looks like a skull) with crossed bones underneath. So even making a tape copy of an LP, to play in your car, was technically illegal. I recall the message on the inner sleeves of many albums that reminded us that ' home taping is killing music - and it's illegal'. When the cassette recorder (and even more so, the twin cassette recorder) became good enough quality for us to record at home, it caused the music business collective apoplexy. Sounds odd, I know, but that the law for you. All we owned was the physical record, that just happened to contain the music. In law, music has never been 'owned' by us, it's always been a 'licence'. There was nothing illegal about that.Īlthough there are differences between the US and the UK regarding this topic, I don't think the US was significantly different to the UK (where I grew up). I purchased the LP - then made a cassette to play in my car (I'm 53). I'm several years older than you, so I too think of LPs.

Change m4p to mp3 files