Is Downloading MP3 From File Sharing Programs Legal?
By: Ricky Lim
File sharing programs such as KaZaa, Ares, iMesh and Limewire
have never been more popular. They are pretty controversial as
well. You may have heard of the countless lawsuits against them by
music records companies and the MPAA. So is downloading MP3 from
these programs legal?
How Do File Sharing Programs Work?
Modern file sharing programs connects users directly to each other
allowing them to share and download files. They are also called
P2P, or peer to peer programs. Unlike old file sharing programs
such as Napster who ran all connections through their servers. That
is also why it is sometimes difficult to determine exactly who is
downloading what.
File sharing programs by themselves are not illegal. In fact, they
are legitimate uses for it. For example, it is used by academy
institutions and universities to exchange research data and cross
learning. They are also used by musicians and artists to showcase
their talents by distributing their music free through file-sharing
networks.
Many people are confused as to what is legal to download and what
is not. The problem stems from the fact that it is so easy to
download illegal MP3 and other illegal files from these file
sharing networks that people often do not know they are actually
violating copyright laws.
They do not have sufficient knowledge of copyright laws. Current
copyright laws allow an individual to rip MP3 provided he or she
has brought a copy of the CD. However, he or she cannot give, sell
or upload MP3 to others. Beware due to MP3 piracy, record companies
have recently developed technologies that do not allow you to rip
mp3 from CD. Add to that, they are dozens of websites on the
internet proclaiming to be able to download mp3 and movies legally
when they are not!
How to determine whether you can download MP3 legally?
Technically, any MP3 posted on file-sharing programs without the
permission of the artist is illegal. Most commercial MP3 on file
sharing networks are illegal, so my advice would be to avoid them
altogether.
There are a few reputable MP3 download sites on the internet you
can trust. The most famous of all is itunes from Apple. Napster has
a subscription service per month that allows you to download more
than two million mp3 legally. Technically, you do not own the mp3
so do not give, sell or upload to file sharing networks. For more
information on where you can find more free legal mp3, you can
visit my blog.
Ricky Lim blogs about current free MP3 download sites and MP3 converters. His Blog is part of the Infoknowledge blog network.
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