Is it illegal to download free music?
The confusion surrounding music copyright law
Because there are so many different ways to get free music off the internet, there has been a lot of confusion and conflicting views 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’s illegal to download free songs from peer-to-peer servers and websites, 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This type of copying and distribution of songs leaves many with the feeling that the laws are vague and outdated, so they continue to download music illegally.
The increasingly popular “YouTube to mp3” technique, where you grab the mp3 file of a video someone posted of a song, has only added to the problem.
Is that illegal too?
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 that) and the familiar “FBI WARNING” appears on the screen telling you that the material is copyrighted and that it’s illegal to make unauthorized copies. of said material. material of any kind… etc.
Well, despite what some outdated articles may say, this copyright (or internet piracy) law applies to music too.
What does that mean?
Redistribution of any kind, without the consent of the artists, is illegal. And if you participate by knowingly downloading music that is distributed without the consent of the artistyou are participating in an illegal activity.
This IBM article compared using these third-party sites just to pull music from YouTube to “using cassette tapes to record songs from the radio.”
And peer-to-peer servers, as well as other websites that don’t technically even host the files on their website, continue to engage in this illegal activity, and copyright companies will continue to crack down on this 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 (well, there aren’t that many). I remember those days, myself.
And I cringe at the thought of having to once again edit the properties of each individual song to make it neat and tidy on my iPod.
Never more.
While you have the option of subscribing to a music streaming service like many do, if you want to continue listening to your music very cheap Without an internet connection and you want to own the songs you’re listening to, I recommend a service like Mp3million, where you can download songs for five cents. These types of sites are legal as long as they pay royalties on song licences. And with that being said, hopefully you’ll be on your way to continuing your music downloading lifestyle without (too many) interruptions.