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I would like to share my music with my girlfriend. Can we share a single apple ID?

What does the following really mean?: "Apple is the provider of the iTunes Service, which permits you to purchase or rent digital content ("iTunes Products") for end user use only under the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement." (From Itunes' Terms of Use)

Does it mean that the person who owns the account and buys the music is the only one who can be "end user"? Because if I share a single account with my girlfriend, she (the account's owner) would have the right to be end user but could she legaly give me part of that right too? At least for one of the 5 computers she can authorize?

(note for future anwswers: we are NOT in the same household)

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2 Answers

up vote 2 down vote

This is covered under the USAGE RULES section of the iTunes Terms of Service, which reads, in part:

USAGE RULES

(i) You shall be authorized to use iTunes Products only for personal, noncommercial use.

(ii) You shall be authorized to use iTunes Products on five iTunes-authorized devices at any time, except for Content Rentals (see below).

(iii) You shall be able to store iTunes Products from up to five different Accounts at a time on compatible devices, provided that each iPhone may sync tone iTunes Products with only a single iTunes-authorized device at a time, and syncing an iPhone with a different iTunes-authorized device will cause tone iTunes Products stored on that iPhone to be erased.

While I'm not a lawyer and this is not legal advice, I do not see where it limits usage to one person, or declares that all these devices and authorized computers must be owned or operated by only one person.

I suggest you carefully read the entire legal agreement if you want to resolve this for yourself.

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@R.M I`m trying to respect the artist`s rights, so I really want to understand which rights I am buying. – David Lemus Mar 31 '12 at 1:06
it doesn´t specify that in that part, but what about the part of the agreement I posted? I want to understand what it really means :S – David Lemus Mar 31 '12 at 1:09
@DavidLemus That paragraph is a simple summary of what the rest of the agreement contains. Re-read the last part, "under the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement." It essentially means that you need to refer to the remainder of the agreement to understand what you, as the end user, are allowed to do. And you are specifically allowed to set up multiple computers with your one account, and are not otherwise restricted. Typically the "end user" simply means the final purchaser - this agreement doesn't cover distributors, agents, resellers, stores, etc. – Adam Davis Mar 31 '12 at 12:11
up vote 1 down vote

You can use Home Sharing to share your music. Per Apple:

Home Sharing enables you to stream or transfer music, movies, TV shows, apps, and more among up to five authorized computers in your household. To do so, you will need to Turn on Home Sharing on each computer using the same Apple ID. Once set up, all the libraries from your computers you've enabled Home Sharing on will show up in the SHARED area of iTunes

i.e. Apple encourages you to share your music and other purchases with others in your home.

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But we don`t live in the same household, so we don´t have a local area network. I think that works only that way. – David Lemus Mar 31 '12 at 0:33
@DavidLemus Ah, apologies, I think I assumed too much! :-) Consider my answer to apply to a lives-with case only, then. Apple specifically made that much easy. – Chris W. Rea Mar 31 '12 at 0:34
ok, yeah you went a lil`bit too far haha. but thanks! – David Lemus Mar 31 '12 at 0:39

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