CD Duplication - Basics

CD duplication (copying of CD's) has become very popular because it is really very easy to do and not expensive. It can also be a controversial issue with all the legal issues concerning copyright etc which you need to be aware of. The laws and regulations are complex and will vary from country to country and state to state – so you will need to check that out for yourself to be sure that you are not CD duplicating illegally. If you are using CD duplication for your own use and copying files from your computer or from CD's which belong to you then you need not concern yourself too much about this. If you make multi copies of a commercial CD for distribution to friends or more importantly for sale to the general public then you really must make sure you have the legal rights to do that.

The basics of CD duplication is simply the copying of one CD to another blank CD. The CD you are copying may be one you purchased from your local music store (beware of copyright) or a CD lent to you by a friend. The CD can contain all sorts of stuff apart from music – pictures, movies, data files, mp3 files etc etc. CD duplication at home using simple software installed on your computer is very easy to do provided your computer is equipped with a CD-RW drive (if not then you can purchase an external CD-RW drive and connect it to your computer).

You will need special software to work with CD duplication from your computer but if your computer has a CD-RW drive then most likely you will find that your computer already has some basic software installed for working with CD's (if your purchase an external CD-RW drive then it will also come with software you can download to your computer) – check this out before buying any of the many software products available.

Most software is 'general purpose' in that it will allow you to duplicate many different types of file. However, with that type of software there is usually a level of compromise in terms of editing features available and quality of the duplicated material. If you are only interested in copying say music files, then you may wish to purchase software which will give lots of useful editing features and provide a better quality of duplicated content.

The same applies to blank CD's – some are more suitable for data files and others for music etc – so choose software and blank CD's carefully and seek advice if you are not sure. Also if you want to be able to edit or change the content on your duplicate CD at a later time then make sure you choose a CD-RW blank and not CD-R.

Beyond basic home based CD duplication, if you are a serious hobbyist or into CD duplication for commercial reasons then you may wish to consider some of the more specialised equipment and software available.