Software Recommendation please

I want to make backup disks of my audio CDs. Can anyone recommend a program for this. I only want to copy my own CDs in case I damage the originals buy cant seem to find a program to do this.
Thanks

I don't think that can be discussed here as it's illegal in the UK and, I believe, in the US too.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jul/17/high-court-quashes-regulations-copy-cds-musicians

I'm fairly certain that ripping audio CDs is fine (if iTunes functionality is anything to go by). Now, if you're talking about making actual copies of the CDs, that might not be legal.

mrplow said:

I don't think that can be discussed here as it's illegal in the UK and, I believe, in the US too.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jul/17/high-court-quashes-regulations-copy-cds-musicians

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Always a nebulous area, i.e. copying music for your use only - below just a portion of RIAA Policy from a much longer statement, for those interested in current USA policy.

For myself, I've ripped dozens of my own CDs to MP3 format (for my iDevices) and I've also ripped purchased MP3 music to CD-Rs for backup and play purposes - all of this activity for my own use - I'm assuming from the quoted statements below, that I'm w/i the accepted guidelines.

For our OP, 'fair use' would certainly apply - not sure 'how many' CDs need to be 'backed up', but another consideration if the number is small (I own 6000 CDs, so not something I would do) is to purchase one or more LARGE external HDs (or a server) and rip the music to the drive(s) using a 'lossless' format, such as FLAC (or other) - this seems to be the practice of many these days. Dave

Copying CDs

- It’s okay to copy music onto an analog cassette, but not for commercial purposes.
- It’s also okay to copy music onto special Audio CD-R’s, mini-discs, and digital tapes (because royalties have been paid on them) – but, again, not for commercial purposes.
- Beyond that, there’s no legal "right" to copy the copyrighted music on a CD onto a CD-R. However, burning a copy of CD onto a CD-R, or transferring a copy onto your computer hard drive or your portable music player, won’t usually raise concerns so long as:
- The copy is made from an authorized original CD that you legitimately own
- The copy is just for your personal use. It’s not a personal use – in fact, it’s illegal – to give away the copy or lend it to others for copying.
- The owners of copyrighted music have the right to use protection technology to allow or prevent copying.
- Remember, it’s never okay to sell or make commercial use of a copy that you make.

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P.S. just noticed that our OP is from Wales - so UK rules likely apply.

As Bryan (vansmith) points out, iTunes allows, almost encourages, one to copy personally owned CDs into its library. It will store the contents in the cloud as part of iTunes Match (now iTunes Music Library) from where they can be played/downloaded onto an iOS device. They can be recovered from the cloud if your iTunes library is lost or corrupted. And, of course, you can back up iTunes to Time Machine or the library to an EHD.

Thus docx, you can legally create a BU of your CDs in this way. Indeed, multiple BUs. There's a solution for you if all you seek is a BU in case of loss or damage to your own CD.

From a technical aspect, burning your iTunes collection to a CD is easy enough. Whether this last part is absolutely legal is beyond my competence.

Ian

PS And no additional software required.

IWT said:

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Thus docx, you can legally create a BU of your CDs in this way. Indeed, multiple BUs. There's a solution for you if all you seek is a BU in case of loss or damage to your own CD.

From a technical aspect, burning your iTunes collection to a CD is easy enough. Whether this last part is absolutely legal is beyond my competence.

..........

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@ Docx - agree w/ Ian's comments, i.e. you can rip your CDs to your iTunes library (and you can place that library on a large external HD, if desired), but keep in mind that the audio codec (see quote below) will greatly impact on your storage space - as mentioned previously, I've ripped dozens of my CDs to my computer and now have 40 GBs of music on my MBPro's SSD - these are all in MP3 format (because my main goal is to put this music onto my portable devices).

Now, if your goal is 'archival storage', then ripping using a 'lossless' codec would be recommended - iTunes does offer that option (see the pic below from my iTunes app - set to do MP3 ripping but other lossless codecs can be chosen; sorry, no FLAC) - keep in mind that a minute's worth of music on a CD takes about 10 MB - using a 'lossy' codec can reduce that to about 10% that amount, e.g. 1 MB, depending on the codec and the ripping quality chosen (I usually use 256 kbps) - SO, you need to provide us some information for further advice, e.g. number of CDs you want to make, your hardware arsenal (internal & external drives + their sizes), and whether your interest is 'archival' storage and/or portable use - just a start. Dave

Audio Codecs

Lossless: non-compressed (NC) & compressed (C)
WAV (Windows NC) - duplicates CD-A - LARGE files (10 MB/min)
AIFF (Audio Interchange File Format) - Apple’s WAV version
FLAC (Free Lostless Audio Codec) - C file & saves space

Lossy: information lost but to a variable extent
MP3 - popular; bit rate affects quality; 1MB/min average
AAC (Advanced Audio Codec) - Apple’s MP3 equivalent; better?
WMA (Windows Media Audio) - similar to the others

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Thank you all for the helpful replies. It seems that copying your CDs was legal in the UK after a law was introduced in October 2014 that let individuals copy songs for personal use.
However, shortly after, pressure from the music industry a judicial review found that that this was unlawful and on July 17 a further judgement was issued and the previous rules were reinstated. So it is illegal to make a copy of a CD that I bought even though it is for my own use.
Interestingly this could make programs like iTunes illegal here in the UK. What a ridiculous situation.