Is it legal to rip audio from social networking sites for personal use?

Your question is very brief, so it is very difficult to answer conclusively. Most likely, no. The copyright resides is the creator of the work (Composer, performers, lyricist, etc.). A copyright is a bundle of rights including the rights to: (1) reproduce the work, (2) make derivative works of the work, (3) distribute copies of the work to the public, (4) perform the works publicly, and (5) to display the works. You would be infringing upon the owners' rights. As a possible exception, the work might have been released under a creative commons license or in some other manner where you would be permitted to make copies of the work. Neil Juneja, Esq. Gleam Law, PLLC www.GleamLaw.com Neil@GleamLaw.com (206) 319-5296 (v) (206) 319-4596 (f) (206) 319-5296, x8 (c) *If this email is in any way related to negotiations and/or is for settlement purposes, then it is explicitly protected under ER 408 and is inadmissible for any purpose.* *This information contained in this electronic message and any attachments to this message are intended only for the exclusive use of the designated recipient(s). It may contain confidential or proprietary information and may be subject to the attorney-client privilege or other confidentiality protections. If you are not the intended recipient, or the person responsible for delivering the e-mail to the intended recipient, be advised you have received this message in error and that any use, dissemination, forwarding, printing, or copying is strictly prohibited. Thank you.

Do you mean like ripping audio off youtube? It is possibly a violation of copyright.

The general rules is: No. Those who produced the audio hold a copyright to it. By publishing the audio to a social network sites, they do not lose the copyright. You would need a license to copy the audio.

If you have to ask, it?s probably illegal. Someone went to the work of recording the sounds and they have the right to control and benefit from the use of that material. However, there are some sorts of sounds that you may be able to use without prior permission such as generic sounds of nature, traffic noises on a public street, and anything no longer protected by copyright (roughly prior to the mid-1920's). There are some uses that are also allowed under the Fair Use doctrine such as news reporting and scholarly studies.