Yes, making copies are typically not allowed and for doing that you need a license. However, most people buying books, music, films, software and so on, making new copies are not needed, not wanted and not done. So for the most part, you will not need a license to make new copies.

>So when you get a song from iTunes it must be
>copied onto your computer

Not really, you save THE copy you get on your computer, that is not creating new copies. I don't need a license to store the copy of a book I buy in  my bookshelf either. Or in the book itself by the way.

> and iTunes grants you a license to make copies
>and stipulates how you can make these copies.

"these"? What extra copies are you talking about now?

It is worth pointing out that copyright law actually do allow you to make copies of a work in some circumstances WITHOUT them being infringing copies and hence without needed a license to make copies from the copyright holder. The exact nature of how and what is allowed vary some between countries. For example, in Sweden were I live, one is allowed to make a few copies for private/personal use. That includes for example to make a copy to give a friend or to make a copy to put into your portable music player. There is NO need to get any permission or license to make such copies. I believe that in the USA, a similar provision is covered under what is called "Fair use" for example.

Software is slightly different and one can normally not make such copies, however, since software by its very nature can require copies to be made just to use it normally (for example installing it on the hard disc), most copyright laws has specific provisions that such copies are allowed to be made. See link to US copyright laws in my other post above and check out §117 which deals with limitations on exclusive rights to computer programs which handles this.

So again, you don't need any license at all for such things.

>Since music, movies, and software is so easy to
>copy these days without and degradation in
>quality, the big companies have resorted to doing
>just about anything they can to control how
>copies are leagally made and that only legal
>copies are used (DRM stuff).

On this I agree and this is were my gripe is. One of the things they try is to tell people, to put it bluntly, lies, about what rules and laws apply. They tell you that you don't own something you buy, tell you need a license to listen to music and that you need a license to even save your music you buy online on your computer and so on. One way is the whole "you don't buy/own it, you license it" which is what I commented.

> And since they have been allowed pretty much
>free reign on defining how copies are made they
>are now starting to extend that into how copies
>are used.

I don't agree with this. Copyright basically prevents copies to be made period by others. Copyright laws then permits come types of copies to be made anyway without being infringement (fair use, private copies and so on, depends on country), typically any copies needed to be done to just normally use something are not at all considered infringement and hence are not under control of the copyright holders, although they of course like to tell you so.

As for use, that is not at all covered under copyright law. There is however one recent exception to this but here the variation between countries is enormous and many have no such laws at all. In the USA, the exception is the DMCA, it doesn't cover use but do add a sort of new right to the copyright holder, which is "access" to a work. It doesn't make it a right of the copyright holder, but it adds the ability to have control mechanism for access, which is close to giving a new exclusive right. For the most part, this does not affect the copyright though although it can make it harder. You still don't need licenses to make copies though.

>This is very much like the OEM Windows license.
>Dell (or eMachines, HP, etc.) is allowed
>(licensed) to make a copy of Windows on a
>computer they sell you.

Ahh, a very good example of when one really talk about a license!! A license to make new copies to sell to customers in this example.

>You now own that computer which that copy of
>Windows is on. You don't have a license to make
>another copy of Windows.

This actually applies to any copy of Windows, even one you buy directly from Microsoft. As I mentioned above though, in almost any country you are still allowed to make whatever copies that are needed and necessary to use that Window. Most laws also allows for example for backup copies.

>However if you buy a copy of Windows at Best Buy, that has a license that allows you to
>make a copy on your computer.

Here I would say that you are wrong, or rather, you are not wrong, but the ones selling you windows are trying to fool you and others. Again, copyright laws around the world specifically allows you to make copies needed to use software you have bought, that includes installing it on your computer. There is NO need for any license at all for such a thing. The fact that someone writes a document calling it a license and telling you that you are allowed to do so, does not change this fact and does not make it illegal to do so without such a ?license?.