(A) It is unlawful for a person to:

(1) knowingly and wilfully transfer or cause to be transferred, for commercial advantage or private financial gain, without the consent of the owner, any sounds recorded on a phonograph record, disc, wire, tape, film, or other article on which sounds are recorded, with intent to sell or cause to be sold, or to use or cause to be used for profit through public performance, the article on which such sounds are transferred;

(2) advertise, offer for sale or resale, or sell or resell, or cause the sale or resale, or rent or cause the rental of, or possess for any of these purposes any article described in item (1) with the knowledge that the sounds on it have been transferred without the consent of the owner;

(3) offer or make available for a fee, rental, or other form of compensation, directly or indirectly, any equipment or machinery with the knowledge that it will be used by another to reproduce, without the consent of the owner, a phonograph record, disc, wire, tape, film, or other article on which sounds have been transferred. The provisions of this item do not apply to reproduction in the home for private use and with no purpose of otherwise capitalizing commercially on the reproduction; or

(4) transport for commercial advantage or private financial gain within this State or cause to be transported within this State an article with the knowledge that the sounds on it have been transferred without the consent of the owner.

A person who violates this section, upon conviction, must be punished as provided for in Section 16-11-920.

(B) As used in this section:

(1) "Person" means an individual, partnership, corporation, company, association, any communications media including, but not limited to, radio or television, broadcasters or licensees, newspapers, magazines, or other publications, or media which offer facilities for the purposes stated in this chapter, or other legal entity.

(2) "Owner" means the person who owns the original fixed sounds embodied in the master phonograph record, master disc, master tape, master film, or other article used for reproducing recorded sounds on phonograph records, discs, tapes, films, or other articles on which sound is or can be recorded and from which the transferred recorded sounds are directly or indirectly derived.

(3) "Fixed" means embodied in a tangible medium of expression when its embodiment in an article, by or under the authority of the author, is sufficiently permanent or stable to permit it to be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated for a period of more than transitory duration.

(4) "Article" means the tangible medium upon which sounds or images are recorded or otherwise stored and includes any original phonograph record, disc, tape, audio or video cassette, wire, film, or other medium now known or later developed on which sounds or images are or can be recorded or otherwise stored, or any copy or reproduction which duplicates, in whole or in part, the original.

This section neither enlarges nor diminishes the right of parties in private litigation nor does it apply to the transfer by a radio or television broadcaster of any sounds (other than from the sound tract of a motion picture) intended for, or in connection with, broadcast transmission or related uses or for archival purposes. An owner of a record, disc, wire, tape, film, or other article or device which is transferred unlawfully or used in violation of this section has a cause of action in the circuit court of this State against the party committing the violation for all damages resulting therefrom, including actual, compensatory, incidental, and punitive.

HISTORY: 1975 (59) 592; 1989 Act No. 92, Section 1.