Aussie record bosses support CD-copying

Australian music industry officials are testing plans to endorse CD-copying vending machines in public places in return for a small royalty fee.

The stance taken by the Australian Record Industry Association (Aria), and the Australian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS) is in sharp contrast to the aggressive litigating approach of its US equivalent, the Recording Industry Association of America.

The Australian scheme is the brainchild of Greg Moore, chief executive of Adelaide-based Little Ripper CD Burner, who said that the coin-operated machines are intended for people to make backup copies of their own CDs in case of damage or loss of the original.

The burners will be located in convenience stores across the country, and would charge about £2 to copy a disc.

Moore said that AMCOS, which represents some 30,000 songwriters and music publishers, was "very receptive" to his proposal.

According to Associated Press reports, AMCOS has confirmed that it has been in talks with Little Ripper but admitted that "precise details of any licensing agreements have not been discussed".

Michael Speck, of Aria's anti-piracy investigations unit, also confirmed that the record industry lobby group was looking at the proposal.

Aria explained that there are legitimate uses for the devices, but pointed out that "the risk of a burner being used for illegitimate purposes increases dramatically when it's put on a street corner".

However, Australian legal experts have warned that the proposal gives the record industry little room to manoeuvre.

One lawyer said that, if a record company agreed to the deal but inflated the price of licensing fees charged to the vending machine owners to protect their own product, they may be at risk of being accused of anti-competitive business practices.

If they don't agree to the proposal, the vending machines could ultimately flourish, and record companies and songwriters won't see any sort of payment, he said.