using music bought from napster or itunes

[Elizabeth Haines]

I thought I bought the "rights" to use pieces of albums when I bought them from itunes or napster. But when I try to import them to photoshop elements to accompany slides, I cannot. They are "protected." And I cannot convert itunes music to windows format.

So I am resorting to the tried and true - by a cd.

Is there another way (or a place) where I can buy digital music with the rights to reuse it? I want to use music from known CDs that would be copyrighted.

[Jayell]

Without commenting on the legality issues, you can burn the music to a CD, and rip it back to your computer, where you can then convert it to whatever format you wish.

[Steve Grisetti]

Also, note that the "rights" you bought were the rights to PLAY the music, not USE the music -- so there's some gray area about whether or not you can legally use purchased music in a video, unless you've negotiated a price directly with the rights owner. (On the other hand, if it's for a personal video, probably not a big deal; if you're planning on selling the video, it is.)

Finally, note that iTunes music and Napster behave a little differently. iTunes music is yours to play forever. Napster and other subscription services, however, often only allow you to play the music as long as you maintain your subscription. Once you cancel it, your music becomes unplayable! So be sure to read the fine print.

[Elizabeth Haines]

One book that I have says that to convert your itunes to mp3 (so that premiere elements will recognize the format), you right-click any song name you choose (presumably from your itunes selection) , and select from the pop-up menu "convert selection to mp3."

I don't see this option.....

And I also can't burn my itunes (bought from the itunes store) to a CD.....


I think I will just go to a half price bookstore and hope I can find the CDs I want...

[Jayell]

.And I also can't burn my itunes (bought from the itunes store) to a CD...

What do you mean you can't burn your iTunes to CD? What exactly happens? I've bought and used many iTune store-bought tunes in my PremElements projects.