What You Should Know About Illegal Music Downloads
Have you heard about illegal music downloads? Are you confused as to what is legal and what is not? The internet boom has now made it much easier for people to receive information online. In addition to that, technology and software programs have made it easier for the average music lover and computer user to do things they never could before such as download and share music and MP3 files over the internet. Sites like Napster were highly popular and for good reason. What person doesn’t love some great music- especially if it’s free?
However, a lot of confusion has stemmed from the topic of music downloading and there are many people out there that are unsure of where the law actually stands on the matter. So what is illegal music downloads and what can happen to you if you are caught using them or sharing them with others?
How it Works
Let’s begin with a brief description of how it all works in case you’ve never actually done it before. Illegal music downloads usually consist of file-sharing songs and music. This is when a person at home that has ‘XYZ’ CD puts it on their computer and then visits a file-sharing website which allows them to upload the song files to the website so other people can then download that song and have it as well – for free. That person can also search the site to look for other songs they may want, download them to their computer and then save and use them as MP3 files or burn them to CDs.
There are many websites that set up these file-sharing opportunities for internet users and so many people out there stumble upon them or hear about them from a friend and don’t even know what the law is regarding this type of use of copyrighted materials.
Why is it Wrong?
Common sense tells us that downloading copyrighted material without paying for it is wrong so why then are so many people still doing it? Well, there are different reasons for this. One common thought is “well, I won’t get caught” while other people seem to think what can one little song hurt? It seems to many people to be a victimless crime and therefore, they can justify doing it. However, it is still against the law and if caught, there can be steep fines and penalties.
Another common excuse is that some people think when they pay a membership fee to the website that is posing the music; they are paying for the right to download it and use it and even to share it with others. What they do not understand is that it is not that music site’s property to sell to begin with. You are paying for access to their site; not for the rights to use the music downloads legally. The thing that you need to understand is that it is against the law to use music downloads that you have not paid for. Essentially, it is stealing music. This is why illegal music downloads are such a controversial topic right now.
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