m4a to mp3 converter??

[Strom]

I have several cd's I purchaced and wrote that are in m4a format...is it possible to convert them to mp3 without using itunes?

[Jahid65]

install sound converter & lame. you can also install winff, ffmpeg, libmp3lame.

[Strom]

I wasn't thinking right...that was a very dumb question. No need to convert it if I just burn to cd and rip it back in flac or mp3 format. I really should have backed my purchases up on disc instead of toting the files around on a memory stick.
lost over 100 cd's.

[Chronon]

Be advised that converting from one lossy format to another results in reduced fidelity. Whichever format you choose to convert to, I would advise just using an application to transcode the files instead of burning to a disk and then ripping and converting again. Why waste physical media unnecessarily?

[Strom]

Be advised that converting from one lossy format to another results in reduced fidelity. Whichever format you choose to convert to, I would advise just using an application to transcode the files instead of burning to a disk and then ripping and converting again. Why waste physical media unnecessarily?

Therin lies my main problem.
And I really mean main
I am so confused about the music laws in America...you buy an mp3 player, windows media player and iTunes give you the abilities to rip cd's that you own, yet the cd's you rip can get you in trouble?????
A perfect example is the Sony BMG rootkits installed on about 400 units that I know of...not to mention the constant threat on each cd purchased about not copying it.
Now I have close to 30 Cd's if not more that were sent to me by the label owners themselves from other countries, most of which are and have been for some time out of print and very rare.
Should I not have the right to back these treasures up in case they become unplayable?

[nmyrick]

Basically, you do have the right to copy personally purchased CD's and DVD's for backup and personal use, however, you cannot distribute the copies to anyone, even as a gift.

For further detail, you can google the 'fair use' clause under the copyright act of 1976.

from wikipedia:

Fair use
Additionally, the fair use defense to copyright infringement was codified for the first time in section 107 of the 1976 Act. Fair use was not a novel proposition in 1976, however, as federal courts had been using a common law form of the doctrine since the 1840s (an English version of fair use appeared much earlier). The Act codified this common law doctrine with little modification. Under section 107, the fair use of a copyrighted work is not copyright infringement, even if such use technically violates section 106. While fair use explicitly applies to use of copyrighted work for criticism, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research purposes, the defense is not limited to these areas. The Act gives four factors to be considered to determine whether a particular use is a fair use:

the purpose and character of the use (commercial or educational, transformative or reproductive);
the nature of the copyrighted work (fictional or factual, the degree of creativity);
the amount and substantiality of the portion of the original work used; and
the effect of the use upon the market (or potential market) for the original work.[4]
The Act was later amended to extend the fair use defense to unpublished works.