Is it legal to record audio streams? Can it be considered as a piracy?

Streaming audio recorders (software capable of recording audio streams) are intended for use as personal archiving tools only. Please respect the rights of the copyright holders of any audio material you record.

If you like a broadcast you've recorded, please buy the media! Our web-site is not intended to be a replacement for the media stores, rather it allows you to listen/watch and make an educated purchase.

There are many good reasons to buy music, audiobooks and other audio files:

• You help support an artist, author, ...
• Your audio file will be of the highest quality
• You'll sleep better knowing you did the right thing.

There are a lot of means to protect streaming media from illegal copying and distribution including password-protection and Digital Rights Management (DRM) systems.

You should also read the Terms of Service (ToS) carefully to make sure your stream recording will not violate it. Otherwise we strongly recommend not to make any recordings.

Some of us used to record radio broadcasts to audio cassettes. And it was not considered illegal. Why stream recording from web radio stations should be considered illegal then?

At the same time we do NOT support any illegal distribution of the recorded materials.

100% of audio streams we know can be recorded by capturing sound from your sound card. We just try to describe a better approach so that our visitors don't waste their time and HD space.

P.S.: If you are a content owner/distributor and you want any information about stream recording from your web-site to be removed from stream-recorder.com or all-streaming-media.com, please contact us. Please also make sure your visitors can easily find information prohibiting stream recording from your web-site.

Applian Technologies, the developer of Replay AV, Replay Media Catcher, Replay Music and At-Large Recorder, has the following answers to legal questions:

Originally Posted by applian

Overview
As a content publisher, we take copyright laws very seriously. We also believe strongly in Fair Use. The laws are simple: When recording or converting media, please do not redistribute it to other people. This will keep you out of trouble.

Our products fall in the same category as VCR's, TiVo Digital Video Recorders (DVR's), Tape Recorders, CD Burners, iPods, and other popular consumer devices. All Applian products record streaming media not protected by DRM (Digital Rights Management), and are fully compliant with all copyright laws, including the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Only 1% of all online video and audio is DRM protected.

Here is what our products are NOT:

• We do not provide instructions or equipment to illegally access or tamper with software, servers, or web sites.
• We do not provide products that enable illegal access of cell phones and other communications or content delivery systems/devices.
• We do not provide software to unlock copyright protection.
• We do not provide tools for copying CDs or DVD's not intended for personal use.
• We do not sell products or services that circumvent digital rights management (DRM) technologies or technical protection measures for copyrighted works.

Will the RIAA or MPAA sue me for using your products?

The RIAA will not come after you as long as you record for your own personal use. File sharing services like eDonkey, Kazaa, Morpheus and the original Napster service put their users at risk, since redistributing copyrighted content or acquiring copyrighted content that you wouldn't otherwise have access to is illegal.

If you decide to share recordings with others, post them on the Internet, or sell them, do so at your own risk. This is definitely breaking the law.

What does the copyright law say about recording?

If you're really into the legal aspect of this, there are two important parts of the copyright law relating to recordings. We've quoted the actual text of the law below, and highlighted the important parts in green.

First, the basic right of copying is outlined in section 1008:

§ 1008. Prohibition on certain infringement actions
No action may be brought under this title alleging infringement of copyright based on the manufacture, importation, or distribution of a digital audio recording device, a digital audio recording medium, an analog recording device, or an analog recording medium, or based on the noncommercial use by a consumer of such a device or medium for making digital musical recordings or analog musical recordings.

Next, comes the provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). This is often used to stop distribution of certain copying programs. Replay Music operates by recording what comes out of the PC speakers, using capabilities built into Windows. We don't circumvent any copy protection systems, nor do we claim that Replay Music is designed to circumvent copy protection systems (which it isn't). The underlying technology behind Replay Music has been in use since at least 1999.

Below is the important part of the DMCA as it relates to copying and circumventing copy protection systems:

§ 1201. Circumvention of copyright protection systems

(2) No person shall manufacture, import, offer to the public, provide, or otherwise traffic in any technology, product, service, device, component, or part thereof, that —

(A) is primarily designed or produced for the purpose of circumventing a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under this title;

(B) has only limited commercially significant purpose or use other than to circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under this title; or

(C) is marketed by that person or another acting in concert with that person with that person's knowledge for use in circumventing a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under this title.

(3) As used in this subsection —

(A) to “circumvent a technological measure” means to descramble a scrambled work, to decrypt an encrypted work, or otherwise to avoid, bypass, remove, deactivate, or impair a technological measure, without the authority of the copyright owner; and

(B) a technological measure “effectively controls access to a work” if the measure, in the ordinary course of its operation, requires the application of information, or a process or a treatment, with the authority of the copyright owner, to gain access to the work.

Just for yourself.

[Ed999]

This thread quotes the laws of the United States of America, and does not apply to users who live in some other country.

In England, for example, the law is governed by the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright,_Designs_and_Patents_Act_1988

The basic position in England is that it is not a breach of copyright to make a copy of something you already own, for your own sole use. But almost every other type of copying is a breach of copyright.

There are some exemptions for "fair dealing", e.g. if you are copying only a small part of a copyright work. There is a list of examples of what amounts to fair dealing.

Mostly, breach is a civil matter, meaning you might be sued for the breach and have to pay compensation (to the copyright owner). This means, in effect, that you are not likely to be sued unless you are doing something that warrants the time and expense of a lawsuit.

But selling a copy, or making a copy available to the public, is a criminal offence. There are other criminal offences under the Act too. This means the copyright owner is relieved of the cost and hassle, which falls instead on the police or another public body, so the owner is more likely to take action in the case of even a less serious breach.

[j_cool]

Owner of this forum may be from The United States Of America if it is still Applian what I doubt very much.
Applian used to censor here including one my own post what was a rude comment about one of them when this forum was disfunctional.
If it was USA owner he would be as scared as Assange and censor a lot.
You don't know what is worse, to be treated as Assange or give a voice to spammers.
So it is not about you and me but about who gives me a voice here and seeing no censorship here it is unlikely USA run.