I guess it really shouldn't come as a big surprise, but the Electronic Frontier Foundation is reporting that the RIAA -- the record companies' lobbying group -- is floating the legal position that making backup copies of CDs you own or ripping the CDs to an Ipod or other MP3 player is not fair use.

As part of the on-going DMCA rule-making proceedings, the RIAA and other copyright industry associations submitted a filing that included this gem as part of their argument that space-shifting and format-shifting do not count as noninfringing uses, even when you are talking about making copies of your own CDs:

"Nor does the fact that permission to make a copy in particular circumstances is often or even routinely granted, necessarily establish that the copying is a fair use when the copyright owner withholds that authorization. In this regard, the statement attributed to counsel for copyright owners in the MGM v. Grokster case is simply a statement about authorization, not about fair use."

The record companies are quickly being made irrelevant by technology. Most bands make most of their money by touring and, in a world where CDs are relatively cheap and easy to make -- not to mention the being able to reach most of your market through places like iTunes or MusicMatch's online stores -- the record companies aren't so necessary anymore. However, they've still got a lot of money, so they're trying to protect their obsolete business model by getting Congress to in effect legislate their continued existence.

The good news is that consumers, in this case, have an equally large industry on their side -- the consumer electronics industry won't let the RIAA legislate them out of existence.