Ford and GM Sued by Record Industry over CD-Ripping Car Stereos

Some Ford, GM cars can rip music from a CD to their hard drives, and the Alliance of Artists and Recording Companies has a problem with that.

In today’s Really Pointless Lawsuit news, the Alliance of Artists and Recording Companies, or AARC, is suing automakers Ford and General Motors.

The lawsuit, which alleges $2,500 in damages for each infringement, stems from the auto duo featuring CD-ripping technology as an option in some of their cars. Models from Ford and GM both can include an internal hard drive (usually around 10 GB), and the car’s CD player can rip tracks from an audio disc to said storage device.

In other words: You don’t want to keep your CD collection in your hot, messy car, so you rip some tunes to the whip’s hard drive so your Pearl Jam albums can live under your home stereo.

The AARC says this hardware is in violation of the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992, and wants $2,500 for each DARD (digital audio recording device) sold buy GM and Ford, an amount they say represents missed royalties. The suit also extends to infotainment hardware manufacturers Clarion and Denso, who contract with Ford and GM.

While there are plenty of arguments to be made regarding music sharing and music piracy, I have a hard time wrapping my head around the argument being made by AARC against Big Auto. This isn’t about sharing music with your friends, or putting an unreleased album up for torrenting. You are, in theory, taking music you purchased, and copying it to a hard drive.

GM has yet to publicly respond, while Ford has only given a “we’re looking into it” quote.

You can read the AARC’s entire lawsuit here

Source: ComputerWorld | TorrentFreak