If someone wanted to be technical, sharing songs and downloading songs isn't necessarily illegal. Downloading songs may be illegal if you do not have permission to download them. But, I remember one time I was on a trip with a group and someone broke into another one of our rooms. The person destroyed all his CDs. When we got home, I burned him all the CDs he lost off of Napster. That is perfectly legal. It's called fair use. Sharing songs isn't necessarily illegal. Heck, what kept Hotline up for years and years? Besides those agreements to log on to the server, the software was offered for "backup reasons." LOL. It's downloading songs you don't have the right to use.
Also, while it may be illegal to download a song off the p2p networks if you don't own the album, copying a CD for a friend is perfectly legal under the Home Recording Act of 1993. Heck, audio CD-R blanks have a tax on them for this. If the record industry is going to tax you for this stuff, that could be impiled as a licence to copy whatever you want. :razz:
IANAL, as always.....
You could not possible be more wrong.
Copying a CD for a friend is only legal if the friend owns a limited copyright for that CD already. Even then it's iffy. THis does NOT CLASSIFY AS FAIR USE. Fair use says its ok to make a backup for your OWN collection. Not someone elses. Fair use is just a standard of equity, and it doesn't give you the right to willy nilly copy CD's for people.
Sharing songs IS illegal. Even if NO ONE EVER DOWNLOADS THEM. This has been established and upheald in SEVERAL courts. Someone doesn't have to download the song it to be illegal. If you make it AVAILABLE for download, it is illegal. It's solicitation of copyrighted materials.
You are WRONG about the downloading songs off of a central server that you have license for. Do you remember the MP3.com experiment that got shut down? Where you could upload YOUR own mp3's to their central server and then download them from your OWN secure logon to listen to at other locations? Yeah, that was ruled illegal and got shut down.
Jesus Christ Will. Did you research this topic at ALL? I dont know if you make a true statement in the ENTIRE post!
Blank audio CD's do NOT have a tax on them. They have a royalty payment. BIG difference. And the royalty is for the MEDIA, not on the material. This means that it could NOT be implied as a license in ANY way to do anything except record onto the media. Distributing is an entirely different issue.
The home recording act DOES NOT allow you to make a copy for a friend! Where did you get THIS idea?!?
I have 3 friends who have finished their 2nd year of law and 4 friends who are PRACTICING lawyers, including two who are state attourneys. We have been over this discussion, and I can assure you, you are VERY wrong and are due for a real wakeup call soon.
im dissapointed, you usually research your topics before you spout off. So that even when I disagree you atleast have a good argument. This one is just WRONG.
---Andrew