The purpose of the Hymn Project is to allow you to exercise your fair-use rights under copyright law. The various software provided on this web site allows you to free your iTunes Music Store purchases (protected AAC / .m4p) from their DRM restrictions with no loss of sound quality. These songs can then be played outside of the iTunes environment, even on operating systems not supported by iTunes and on hardware not supported by Apple.
Why use Hymn Project software?
- To decrypt your iTunes protected AAC files so that they can be played on operating systems for which no official version of iTunes exists, such as Linux.
- To use non-Apple AAC-capable hardware to play your music.
- To eliminate the five computer limit imposed by iTunes.
- To make archival backups of your music.
- As the first step in converting your music from protected AAC to MP3, Ogg, or your other favorite audio file format, for use with your non-iPod portable audio player.
- To demonstrate your belief in the principles of fair-use under copyright law.
These various programs provided here are released under the GNU General Public License v2 or later.
"The primary objective of copyright is not to reward the labor of authors, but [t]o promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts." "To this end, copyright assures authors the right to their original expression, but encourages others to build freely upon the ideas and information conveyed by a work. This result is neither unfair nor unfortunate. It is the means by which copyright advances the progress of science and art."
-- US Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor
Despite what Justice O'Connor of the United States Supreme Court has said, DRM exists. The purpose of DRM is to bypass traditional copyright law. The result of DRM combined with laws that outlaw circumvention of DRM (such as the DMCA) is that there is no longer clear protection for fair use in some countries.
Before using any of the software on this web site, you should be aware of the legal standing of DRM circumvention technology in your own country and make your own decision whether using Hymn Project software is right for you.