Is Converting Songs To MP3 Legal?

The MP3 format isn’t technically special among its alternatives, but it’s a hot topic regarding intellectual property. The laws and regulations of working with copyrighted material are complex, murky, and vary depending on the country. Let’s tackle the simple case first:

Converting a DRM-free audio file of a song to MP3 format is usually legal. As long as you rightfully own a non-copy-protected file of music for personal use (e.g., from iTunes), converting the audio’s encoding to another format for personal use typically isn’t an infringement.

Copy protection schemes and distribution makes things complicated and are usually where the considerable penalties for copyright infringement lie. Additionally, online sources such as YouTube, music streaming platforms, and media such as CDs and DVDs have their own caveats.

Is Converting To MP3 Illegal?

Converting from one format of audio to MP3, without decryption, is not illegal in itself. Intellectual property rights apply equally to a given work regardless of how it’s encoded. So, for example, if you bought music from iTunes or Bandcamp, then converting to most other formats is legal.

The first, albeit minor caveat, is patents or other restrictions placed on the use of the format being converted to. MP3 is relatively unencumbered outside of the USA, particularly in the EU. Within the States, multiple companies still claim patent eligibility for parts of the MP3 format, but the claims’ validity is uncertain. They won’t affect you.

However, because the conversion does not change the intellectual property rights that govern the content, the resulting MP3 is still subject to the original copyright. This means that you cannot do the following with the converted copy

  • Redistribute the song’s file, including sharing it with a friend
  • Sell copies of the audio file
  • Use it for public or commercial purposes

The primary exception to the Copyright Act’s provisions is where your use of the content falls under Fair Use. Fair use allows the commercial use of portions of otherwise copyrighted material. Fair use is primarily determined by the following factors:

  • How transformative or critical the usage is
  • The fictionality and publication status of the original work
  • The amount and importance of what has been taken from the original
  • The degree to which the market of the original is affected

Fair use would allow you to legally convert and publicly share transformations of the original work. Fair use might help as long as your case is defensible in court or hosting platforms see the situation in your favor. However, fair use is often misunderstood and hard to defend without hiring expensive lawyers, so be wary.

Is Circumventing Copy Protection Legal?

Breaking copy protection is almost always illegal. You should be wary of violating copy protection, also known as Digital Rights Management (DRM), which restricts your use of the original file. The primary ambition is to protect against digital piracy and enforce the original creator’s right to copy and distribute their work exclusively.

Copy-protection-defeating software violates the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA). Software that breaks DRM is illegal to distribute and will often warn users against use in the USA. Many countries have laws similar to the DMCA, so consult your jurisdiction’s regulations.

Most available converters will not be able to bypass copy protection. They will reject any attempt to change the file’s encoding. However, how do you know if a file is DRM-protected? Simply put, you won’t be able to use the file as expected. Attempting to use a regular media player such as VLC to play offline tracks from Apple Music or Spotify, for instance, will not work.

Preventing the copying of files is impossible, but DRM attempts to make the file unusable without the platform that controls the distribution. However, piracy continues unabated, so be aware of receiving standalone files of copyrighted media. They are illegal to own, even if you did not create the file or purchase it (i.e., given it as a gift).

However, the DMCA’s laws have been partially overruled by various exceptions and case-law where the legality of breaking DRM comes down to whether the purpose of breaking DRM was to infringe on rights as provided in the Copyright Act or not. This means that breaking DRM for the personal use of the content might be legal. Nonetheless, it’s risky: US court circuits do not entirely agree.

Is Converting YouTube To MP3 Legal?

While the YouTube Terms of Service forbids “stream-ripping,” banning the conversion of their content to MP3 files has never been successfully, legally enforced. Furthermore, multiple court cases have decided that YouTube cannot forbid tools like youtube-dl or Youtube to MP3 from operating.

However, the copyright of the original creator still applies. The legality depends on the license under which YouTube has been allowed to distribute the content. For example, downloading a chart-topping new track by Billie Eilish from YouTube is certainly not allowed. The content is not authorized for downloading, so this is considered piracy.

On the other hand, many works are licensed under YouTube’s default content license or the Creative Commons license CC-BY. In this case, having a copy for personal use is fine. When going beyond that, you risk breaking the law. Always consult the specific license and consider seeking legal advice from an attorney.

Is It Legal To Rip Your CDs Or DVDs To MP3?

The legality of ripping MP3 files from CDs is vague in the USA. American record companies have made various claims to the public and courts, and intellectual property law isn’t always clear in its digital application.

On the one hand, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has stated, with regards to piracy, that while you do not have the right to make copies of CDs onto your harddisk, it shouldn’t “usually raise concerns” as long as you:

  • Legally own the CD
  • Don’t redistribute the copy
  • Don’t use it for commercial purposes
  • Don’t circumvent any implemented copy protection

However, they do specify that exceptions exist. Because you are allegedly given no such right regardless, you may want to avoid ripping CDs.

DVDs are more straightforward, as they are usually copy-protected. The Content Scrambling System designed for DVDs has been cracked for a long time, but ripping them is still technically illegal in the USA, whether converting to MP3 or any other format.

Should You Convert To MP3?

Converting to MP3 is rarely the best option. AAC was produced as a successor to MP3 and is an obvious choice for a superior format for most purposes. Patents encumber AAC codec production, but this won’t affect most users directly. Ogg Vorbis is another good option, with the bonus of being free/libre (the file contents notwithstanding).

All of the above are lossy compression formats. This means they will take up less space on your disk, but re-encoding between them inevitably leads to a loss in fidelity. Always convert a track from the original source to avoid audio compression artifacts if you need music in a specific format.

For example, YouTube audio is usually streamed in AAC; downloading the audio as-is would preserve quality the best. On the other hand, you may want to consider lossless formats. While they are often three to five times larger than an MP3 or AAC file, they do not discard information during encoding, which is suitable for production environments and audiophiles.

Conclusion

While the act of conversion is legal in most circumstances, where doing so does not break any copy-protection schemes, one must be highly vigilant about their use of media to remain in the clear. It is always best to consult a legal professional and the laws that specifically apply to you.

Links