About Is it Legal: downloading music legally

Learn about downloading music legally and the implications behind the process. There has been a lot of controversy about downloading from the internet and how it affects the original author and distributors mainly due to profits.

Is it legal

It's been a really long time since MP3 songs came around' and the advent of MP3 songs meant that it became easier to share songs over the internet. Due to the smaller file size and their accessibility' the practice of sharing music files as MP3s spread like wildfire. However' a lot of people still don't know which music is legal to download and which isn't. Could you possibly put yourself at risk of legal action if you download songs through the internet?

It isn't really surprising that a lot of people are confused. There are so many website on the net which have ads claiming that they are ‘Napster replacements' and claim to be 100% legal. You would've definitely come across the claims that ‘MP3 is legal' and ‘file sharing is legal'. Though these statements are somewhat true' they are also quite misleading.

Is MP3 actually legal? Perfectly so' because MP3 is just a format to store songs. A lot of the MP3 files which you get on the web are all legal' and are put up by small – timers who want to get some fame or be picked up by a big record label company or by popular artists who want to promote their current songs.

Is file sharing legal? There are particular ways of file – sharing which are legal' but most of the files shared on P2P (peer – to – peer) networks like LimeWire or Shareza infringe on the copyrights of record label companies.

You should know that using songs which are copyrighted without the permission of the copyright owner is illegal. These songs are generally converted to MP3 from audio CDs and are uploaded to the internet by people who haven't got the prior permission of the artist or the music company.

So what do copyright laws allow? To keep it simple' you could make a copy of a CD you purchase and use it for your own use. This means that you can record it to a tape or convert them to MP3 files. However' you can't give these songs to another person. A lot of people feel that' as long as the songs aren't sold for money' the law hasn't been violated. This is incorrect. Regardless of whether you give the copy for free or sell it' you are violating copyright laws.

The bottom line is' if the method of acquiring songs seems just too good to be true' it generally will be. If you want access to the latest and the best songs' you'll have to pay for them. However' the legal online music services are really good and they make the purchase of songs really affordable (for as low as 99 cents per song and $9.99 per album)' and the competition between online music services makes the price go down!

Article Summary- Most people don't know the legal elements of sharing music files. This article tells you what to avoid and how not to violate copyright laws in the music industry. Readers are encouraged to use legal means to download and enjoy music as there are enough available resources.