Irony aside, there are a number of interesting issues here.

I have a lot of CDs which have all been ripped. The ripped music lives on my music server, and the CDs are in my possession, carefully filed away in box after box in my storeroom.

I also have a great deal of legally downloaded (paid for) music. What exactly constitutes the original here, I wonder? The copies I make for backup purposes are actually identical in form and content to the originals, just in a different location. What is the "original" from which derives my right to a "copy"?

Of course, I'm interested in security. If my house burns down, it will take my original CDs with it, along with the copies on my computers. Therefore I make back-ups that I store in a reasonably secure place -- a safety deposit box at my bank. Little portable hard drives are SO useful.

These represent a third copy -- original, original rip, and copy, or the analog for downloaded/purchased music. I wonder what the rule is about this generation?

And if all that is left of my CDs are lumps of mostly burned plastic, does possessing this still give me a right to my rips?

Ron