The confusion surrounding music copyright law
Because there are so many different ways to get free music from the internet, there has been a lot of confusion and conflicting opinions about what is legal and what is not.
“Okay, so it’s illegal to burn a copy of a CD and distribute it. So you’re telling me I can’t burn a mix CD and give it to some of my friends?”
“It is illegal to download free songs from peer-to-peer websites and servers, but can I download a song from my friend via Dropbox?”
This type of copying and distribution of songs leaves many with the feeling that the laws are vague and outdated, which is why they continue to download music illegally.
The increasingly popular “YouTube to mp3” technique of taking the mp3 file of a video someone posted of a song has only added to the problem.
Is that also illegal?
We’ll see.
The FBI Warning
You know how when you’re watching a movie on a DVD (for those of us who still do) and that familiar “FBI WARNING” appears on the screen telling you that the material is copyrighted and that it is illegal to make copies. unauthorized use of such material of any kind … etc.
Well, despite what some outdated articles may say, this copyright (or internet piracy) law also applies to music.
What does that mean?
Redistribution of any kind, without the artist’s consent, is illegal. And if you participate by knowingly downloading music that is distributed without the artist’s consent, you are participating in an illegal activity.
This IBM article compared the use of these third-party sites only to pull music from YouTube, as “using cassette tapes to record songs from the radio.”
And peer-to-peer servers, as well as other websites that don’t even technically host the files on their website, continue to engage in this illegal activity, and copyright companies will continue to crack down on it in the future. activity.
Are there other options?
Yes. You are not without hope. There are so many options. Honestly, with all the options out there, it’s amazing how many people are still working so hard to download free music (okay, there aren’t that many). I myself remember those days.
And I shudder at the thought of having to edit the properties of each individual song one more time to make it clean and tidy on my iPod.
Never more.
While you have the option to subscribe to a music streaming service as many have done, if you want to keep listening to your music for very little money Without an internet connection and you want to own the songs you are listening to, I recommend a service like Mp3million, where you can download songs for five and ten cents. These types of sites are legal as long as they pay royalties on song licenses. And with that said, hopefully you’re on your way to continuing your music downloading lifestyle without (too much) interruption.