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Legality of recording Bluetooth audio

Ulf

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Can I manufacture and sell a Bluetooth speaker with a recording feature (from BT audio to a local memory, allowing later playback through the speaker) without violating any licensing terms?
 

L5730

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Hi,
Firstly I'll say I hate it when I ask a question and get an answer of "why would you want to do that?". But I am going to ask exactly this.
Would not having SD card or USB mass storage support be a better option? In this day and age, would people really want to spend time recording audio in real time to a portable speaker?

I have no experience on the legal issues or even what is required for normal audio recording devices. I'd highly suspect that laws will be different in each country though.
 
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Ulf

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I want to make a music player for small children. Obviously it's annoying to transfer music in real time like it's 1985, but there is not really an alternative. Not everybody can record 30 seconds of Baby Shark from Youtube to a wave file, put on an SD card and transfer to a portable device :)
 

DVDdoug

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The Bluetooth device has to be licensed but if you have a commercial Bluetooth device it's OK to add a recording circuit or recording device from the analog output.

It's a copyright violation and a violation of your user agreement to record streaming audio from the Internet (although a lot of people do it). The artist/copyright holder gets a fraction of a penny every time it's streamed but of course they don't get paid when you play a stolen copy.

It's generally OK to make personal copies of music you own (CDs, or purchased downloads, etc., but it's a copyright violation to distribute copies (depending on the laws where you live).
 

Elitzur–Vaidman

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The Bluetooth device has to be licensed but if you have a commercial Bluetooth device it's OK to add a recording circuit or recording device from the analog output.

It's a copyright violation and a violation of your user agreement to record streaming audio from the Internet (although a lot of people do it). The artist/copyright holder gets a fraction of a penny every time it's streamed but of course they don't get paid when you play a stolen copy
To simplify, OP is probably fine putting recording circuitry inside his device. Just be careful not to market it in a manner that could be argued encourages piracy.
 
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Ulf

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Thanks DVDdough,
what I have in mind is strictly a "personal use" device, i.e. a bluetooth speaker with recording functionality (and no way to get the recorded data off the device). Do you know if it is allowed store the digital stream without going through DA and then AD? The motivation would be that it simplifies the hardware quite a lot.

To explain the motivation a bit more: Today's devices are too hard to use and too easy to screw up for many people. Young kids and old people, who easily could have used a walkman in the 80's, simply cannot use these devices. Recording from Bluetooth is by far the easiest way to transfer audio to a "robust" music player.
 

somebodyelse

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Don't rely on advice from random people on the internet. If you're aiming to sell this then get proper legal advice in whatever jurisdiction you intend to sell in. Exceptions for personal use like Fair Use, Fair Dealing etc. vary between jurisdictions.
 

kemmler3D

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Making or selling the device is not illegal per se. Any computer with a Bluetooth receiver can do what you're describing no problem. However, record labels have been known to go after manufacturers of devices that are useful for "piracy" (i.e. copying copyrighted content without paying for it) even if the device itself is not illegal in the letter of the law. If the product became very popular, you could expect some nasty letters from WB or UMG any day.

You can probably get a speaker like this manufactured in China for less than $7-8 each, I could even introduce you to someone who would help with sourcing if you were serious. However, I don't expect this product to be a smash hit - I sold Bluetooth speakers for years and nobody ever asked us for a recording function. If you're serious about this I hope you're very clear on how big your market is, how to reach them, and what they're willing to pay... you can't mass produce something like this in quantities less than 5000 or so.
 
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