11 February 2006

Downloading Music & The Law

Here is a quick guide to what I know about the laws on music:
IT IS ILLEGAL TO DISTRIBUTE ANY MUSIC FILE IN ANY FORMAT
(this includes MP3, M4A and "MP4")
  • By "distribute", it means to give, share or copy music so that someone else has a local copy of it. This includes sending it via email, hosting it on a website and other forms (read below).
  • It also means that you will not stream whole tracks of music or play them too loud so they can be heard in public (outside).
    • IT IS LEGAL TO COPY MUSIC FROM A COMPACT DISC (CD) FOR OWN PERSONAL USE
    (this is called the Fair Use Policy) read about it here, or read an example here.)
  • This means you can copy music on your favourite CDs to other devices, e.g. your computer, your MP3 Player (including iPods) in a suitable storage format.
  • This means that even though you may have a copy of it on your computer, for example, you must not:
  • a) Send it to others with a File Sharing program (Peer to Peer Networks, or P2P).
  • b) Burn a copy of it onto another CD or other audio format for either personal use or to sell to others (even to give freely)
  • In some cases, copyrighted material can be used for educational purposes.
    • IT IS POTENTIALLY (but not technically) ILLEGAL TO DOWNLOAD MUSIC
    Effectively, it is your own choice to download music, and it is your responsibility if you are in possession of it unless you have an original, unedited copy.
    THE ONLY LEGAL WAY TO DO THIS IS:
    Either to ask the artist for permission, or actually buy the music. Unless, you are the artist, in which you can freely do whatever you want to do with it. I hear that iTunes Music Store is very popular.
    Read more on the links above about Fair Use, or look on the links just below.
    BBC Click, January 26th 2006: DRM Debates and Music website links.
    BBC Click, June 8th 2006: Copying CD music to a MP3 is legal