The U.K. Intellectual Property Office has officially abandoned a private-copying exemption that made it legal for users to back up their music, putting a spotlight on possible problems ahead for Apple Music and iTunes Match users in the country, 1709 reports.
The exemption was put in place last year to protect users backing up their own legally purchased music from the punishments faced by those pirating music online. The IPO’s decision not to submit a revised version after the U.K.‘s high court ruled against the exemption leaves U.K.
users to wonder if their music libraries stored on personal devices or the cloud are still legal. While it’s unlikely that individual users will be prosecuted for backing up their music under the existing law, Apple will need to reevaluate the terms on which it offers many services since things like copying tracks into a user’s iTunes Match library or making songs in Apple Music available for offline listening now seem to violate U.K.
