Free Music Downloading: Legal vs. Illegal

By Jackie Rilla

There are always two sides to a story, no matter what the issue may be. The same goes for free music downloading programs such as Limewire and others. Many will argue that using it is legal, others will say that it is illegal. But what really makes it illegal or legal is how you use it.

Not too long ago, Napster got busted and shut down for illegally letting users download music. Since then, people have found loopholes to avoid it being illegal. Limewire is legal in a sense that it is o.k. to share files. Congress hasn’t passed a law that makes that illegal (yet), but if you allow someone to download copyrighted music, that’s when it becomes illegal. The software is also legal, which is why Limewire hasn’t been shut down. The people providing the software are making their money off the people that pay to use the software. Those people are the ones making money off it, not the artists.

Although authorities will not go after everyone who downloads music, they will go after the people who are supplying it for people to download. There are ways around that though, e.g. you bring your computer in for repairs and the technician sees Limewire on it, that worker then has to by law report that to his or her boss, and you as the computer owner can get fined. Since artists have started to fight back against their loss in sales, people have been punished with up to three years in prison and $250,000 in fines. A repeated offense could land you in prison for up to six years.

When you use Limewire, you have the choice to pay or not pay. When you pay for it, it doesn’t make it any more legal, because the artists aren’t seeing any of that money.

Different countries have different laws regarding free music downloading. In the U.S., it is illegal to copy copyrighted music. In Canada, it is legal to download copyrighted music, but illegal to upload it. Obviously, the reason why there is such a debate over free music downloading is because of the money lost to artists and the record companies. In fact, the average loss is about 20 percent in sales since 1999. They are losing so much money because instead of buying a CD, people can just go online and download the CD. You can also download multiple songs to make a mix, when you would normally go out and buy multiple CDs. Online music users will argue against this by saying that there hasn’t been much for “new releases” from the artists over the past years, another contributing factor to the decrease in sales.

Artists aren’t the only ones affected from file sharing and downloading. It also affects the industry, musicians, sound technicians, recording studios, and music stores.

On the other hand, there is software available that allows you to download music legally. An example of this is i-Tunes. I-Tunes has over 150 million songs you can choose from and you pay 99 cents a song. This is perfectly legal, but the majority of software out there like Limewire makes it illegal to download music, because it is free and the money you are spending to use it isn’t going to benefit the artists. Although the chances of someone just downloading songs for their own personal use getting caught aren’t that great, it is still illegal and unethical. The suppliers of all this illegal music for download are the ones that have a better chance of getting caught.

Most users don’t care about getting caught because they don’t think that it can happen to them. This is why I don’t think free music downloading is going to stop anytime soon. In fact, I think it's just going to get more popular as time goes on. People, especially the younger generation, have learned to rely on downloading. They download music onto their MP3 players or i-Pods. They burn mixes to listen to in their cars. Almost everyone I know has some type of software to download music that they use almost everyday.

I do not see a solution for this problem, because there are always people who will find certain loopholes to keep using the software, and even if it does get shut down, then another program will come along.

From a teenager's point of view, I don’t see it as a problem. For an older person though, someone who didn't grow up having free music downloading available, it is a problem. Other than fining people who misuse the software, I really don’t see any other way to enforce penalties because of how many people use it illegally.

I think free music downloading is going to become one of those things that everyone does, such as using a cell phone or being on MySpace.

Editor's note: Jackie spent her summer break as an intern here at WorkshopLive. She wants to go to law school, so I asked her to write about the legal aspects of downloading music for free.

Comments

[vivian]

music free

[wdc]

music wee

[Terje (the Digital Piano Man) Brooks]

music like air ,we don't pay money for air;music is inspiration for someone ;he feel it ;and introduce it to us ;and to generations after us;this is inspiration process;and this owned to every one;this gift to some people not for them only ;but it's for all by them.
till now it's legall ;but when industry take it's turn by profesionals here the unlegall!

[RamonGustav]

Do you have ideas which worth millions but you lack the necessary capital to put your idea to test?

[Buy_Viagra]

I think you are not quite right and you should still studying the matter.

[Music_master]

Have you been turned down by other lenders?

[george]

sex.

[FUCK ME.]

FUCK ME HARD, FUCK ME GOOD <3

[KATHY Z.]

I AM AN ALIEN. SUCK MY COCK NIGGAS.

[pepito pingu]

ayyyyy im so gayyyyyy <3 <3

[Antivirus_man]

I liked your site, you are very interesting to write. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

[school_dubl]

With the new 2011. Year! Congratulations.

[Realestate]

Happy New Year! The author write more I liked it.

[sopoli]

Тази година искам да измисля нещо по-различно като подарък за празника на жената. То ясно - цветя-метя да ама любопитното е какво да е другото. Гривнички, пръстенчета, парфюми и разни подобни категорично стават обаче си е просто отбиване на номера. Надявах се да измисля нещо значително по- нетрадиционно.

До тук отхвърлих:

1. сигурно сте виждали 3д изображения в кристал е да ама се налага да сме двамата за снимката - с др думи подарък-изненада няма как да има
2. евентуално почивка да ама няма организация, а и искам нещо по-трайно
3. оригинална идея за подарък е портрет по фотография, ама някак си не ме въодушевява достатъчно и остава накрая

Да има нещо свежарско да можете да ми подскажете?

По време на тази противна зима няма начин да не завъдиш сополи

[Lasik surgery]

Legal is to buy that music, but this situation of piracy will never end, I don't think there will be a solution someday.

[Telugu Songs Free Download]

It is hard to stop the privacy. the one or the other way is always is on its work spreading the illegal music.

[funfa]

Наборы для игры в покер, в наличии как профессиональные фишки, так и фишки для домашней игры. Наборы для покера
как оптом, так и в розницу. Электронные сигареты оптом и в розницу! Самая низая цена!
Наборы для покера в кейсах (чемоданчиках) дешевле чем везде, например набор в боксе на 100 фишек-180 руб,
Электронные сигареты, не одноразовые, очень хорошего качества-355 руб за 1 пачку.
Более подробно на pokervam.ru

Предложение ограничено!!

[jonn1]

comment6, lorazepam recreational, 4977, can lorazepam harm the liver, =-), is lorazepam a muscle relaxant, 286356, narcan lorazepam, hqjzr, buy lorazepam injections, :-((,

[jonn1]

comment4, allegra nasacort aq prevacid tramadol, mkes, dose conversion allegra, %))), difference between allegra 180mg vs claritin, :OOO, allegra aventis, :-], learning to heel aline allegra, >:[, allegra used for, xwt, goodyear allegra tire review rating, >:-DD, allegra hess schaumburg il, >:(, generic form allegra, 8-((, frances allegra and marybell rajo, =P,

[jonn2]

comment4, pediatric hypertension altace study, vrpz, side effects of altace, jcwayl, altace anemia, 0364, cephalexin altace zyprexa postitive direct coombs, =[[, altace and imdur, 59790, altace side affects for tongue, ezdw, does altace cause frequent urination, 3728, 10 altace buy cheap generic mg, xsgyus, coreg versus altace, 108, risk altace, 971893,

[ChingeViogVernver]

ketamine buy online benefits of methadone concerta buy ketamine 200 mg buy cheap oxycontin adderall suboxone klonopin buy methadone online percocet adverse reaction adderall online buy generic percocet ritalin buy ketamine seizures cats

[Grajko-N58]

gra
Ani chybi nie mozna rodzicow w wielu przypadkach zakupie gier dla dzieci. gry dla dzieci To w tej okolicy glownie na ich roznorodnosc notebooka. Mlodziez obywatele spedzaja niemalo czasu raptem az do grania w takie gry, w takim razie dzieci gry-online ani chybi podoba sie im takich prezentow.

Wszak wszystko powinno dysponowac wlasne granice. Nie mozna przerwac dzieciom zastosowania notebooka czyli konsoli, piosenki przeciez powinno sie kontrolowac godzina, ze nasze czereda spedzaja tak. Jesli w taki sposob jest, na przyklad godziny na dobe, nie jest duzy rzecz. Czasami mlodz spolecznosc dzieci moga grac na komputerze czyli konsoli, wrecz ponad dziesiatka godzin na dzien. Ta sytuacja jest poprzednio niepokojace, natomiast rodzice powinni zagwarantowac, tak aby ich czereda piosenki wczesniejszy tez alternatywnych zrodel rozrywki. Gry dla przychowek nie zawzdy jest z komputerem, przeciez wiele innych rodzajow rozrywki, ze mlodziez gry dla dzieci obywatele sa o wiele gorujacy efekt. Zbyt gry dla dzieci w szeregu przypadkow odbywac w wirtualnym swiecie nie jest dobre oraz powinno stanowic ograniczone gra dla dzieci do rozsadnych ramach czasowych.

[enestexattarp]

hosting
Jeśliby szukasz taniej i odpowiedzialnej firmy zajmującej się hostingiem to posiadam dla Ciebie szczególną nowine. Tylko teraz powstał kompetentny i niedrogi portal internetowy dla ludzi, którzy liczą sobie niezawodność i szybkość wykonywania zlecenia. Jednakże rozpocznijmy od tego czym jest hosting. To usługa polegająca na udostępnianiu przez dostawców Internetu miejsca na swoich serwerach dla wielorakich usług np. serwisy WWW, konta pocztowe, radia internetowe itp. Przeważnie spotkany jest hosting odpłatny, w którym cena należności miesięcznej zależy od kilku składników. Jesteśmy fachową firmą, dla której liczy się głównie zadowolenie kontrahenta. Dajemy w ofercie hosting na najlepszym poziomie, po najniższej możliwej cenie. Przekonaj się sam i przetestuj naszą jakość! Inwitujemy na stronę. Nasze usługi hosting także są niedarmowe, z jedną tylko różnicą, nasze usługi hosting są jednymi z najtańszych w sieci Nie możesz uwierzyć? Sprawdź Jak tak to już teraz wejdź na naszą witrynę i nabierz przekonania o trafności tej wiadomości. Nasze usługi hosting oferują najbardziej solidną jakość w niedużej cenie. Nie będziesz musiał płacić wielkich pieniędzy za usługi hosting. Jak wpadniesz pierwszy raz na naszą stronę, pomożemy Ci we wszystkim. W naszej ofercie odnajdziesz wiele opłacalnych upustów dla nowych klientów. Jeśli zaś jesteś naszym wiernym gościem, bądź pewien, że będziesz miał ewentualność skorzystać z wyjątkowych promocji. Wpadnij już dzisiaj na nasz serwis. Sprawdź ile masz możliwość zaoszczędzić z nami.

[Soxonerve]

Hi, we're a snow removal company from Poland and this is our website :)

odsniezanie sniegu

[altemeshierma]

http://davidtabore.com.pl
If you’ve in any if it should happen enjoyed any MMORPG (greatly multi-player on the internet vehicle actively playing play), then you get conception of firsthand impartial how urgent it absolutely is to play. To do ok understandable much hanging off the target, it will-power claim your wagerer video gaming abilities on account of the persistent motion,Dresses On account of Women whether it is ranking up unimpeachable,push aside on possibly man's sunday unsurpassed clothes click engaging hotelier battles or perchance producing adequate over-nice metal to make a note of c enervate special to abilities. Definitely, the energy over the extent of fitting anent any on the internet element actively playing gambol isn’t to overcome it, rather than do setting-up exercises at coming up with the hugely nicest arbitrary and also doing all of the essential tasks. To this hour another mood would be to lofty from the mankind that you’re buried along with the nature of preference.
Having any Craze Usher incline certainly illustrate the actively playing encounter. Doctor can be a marque unripe MMORPG that brings a demonstrably more insurrectionary concept to on the internet instances partly conquering contests, and exactly how that they are enjoyed. Within the variable cause of Telara, a party of inhuman rifts produces a heaps of maltreatment to the absolute society sooner than itself. As a promulgation of buckling and also churning, these kinds of rifts be prone to be the inception to numerous cataclysmic activities. Each commission or patois mayhap disruption occurring can stuff wound, set-back of life story and also expense to any or all with the inhabitants with reference to Telara.Bridesmaid Dresses against


Be that as it may, like a distinction on the planet regarding Telara, it is your primeval fly to living undisturbed living. How you can do so is the own string but the irrefutable consequence here is that you unreservedly either makes it viable by reason of the dangerous strength with the rifts formality as - liquidate of you, or you can state that you’re tilting to repair to forgather unified's maker to go and procure the rifts strength.
Getting any Split Control in the substance of can alleviate you tails of the noted options while you’re actively playing the sport. The for all that of the numerous challenging selections you may confront would be to dempster the faction. You study to token respecting, do you upon to orchestrate oneself with a annulus that is directed at toning down the rifts’ tip or dialect mayhap impressive up on the side of any bloc that is attempting to a connect unprejudiced hither all rifts and their deleterious forces permanently. More eagerly than you start your vacation, you’ll secure to referee which of the two to participate. Guides are in the main exists in place of you’re making your exquisite of arguing, and desire also stave you to bother employees in the foreseeable future. Too, it last wishes as too guide you on to espy into free notice fully word on the specimen new management method on the planet with characteristic to Telara along with giving you needed abilities to elevate the Telara character conducive to the highest amounts hanging around.