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We all hear about legal and illegal
downloading, but what is the real truth about downloading. Can you
get into trouble? Is it legal or not?
The answer, of course, is that it depends. In the USA all intellectual works, are considered to have implied copyright protection. You don't have to claim or register for it. It is there. Now, claiming protection or registering a work PROVES you are utilizing such protection and makes court cases easier to win, but is really not essential to obtaining such protection. This article, that you're reading now, is covered by copyright protection. I'm not claiming it, and I won't, but, legally, I could if someone violated fair use provisions of copyright law. Of course, I'd have to show damages and jump through hoops and hire lawyers and such, so what would the point be? Now, if I had a million dollar song, that would be a different issue. So, what is protected and what isn't? If it's not stated that you can download it, it is technically illegal! That's simple enough, but that's really not all there is to it. The whole purpose of copyright law is to protect the profits of those producing and selling intellectual works, such as movies, books, and song. Many producers have found that “piracy” has dramatically increased their profits, as the buzz makes their product more desirable. Instead of hurting their profits, downloading and sharing has helped their profit picture. Do they rush out and say, “Hey, world, go download crazy.”? Of course not. If they did, and they ever needed copyright protection, they would have given it up. No, what they do is absolutely nothing. They simply don't make an issue of it. “Wink, nod, you're a criminal. Please buy our product.” On air TV shows are a unique phenomena. They make their money by selling advertising, and once the show has aired in a market, someone downloading and viewing it several days later has almost no impact on their profit picture. The argument has been made that this is not different than recording the show off of the air for later use, which the courts have deemed legal. So far as I know, this has never been tested in court, but it is an interesting argument. So far, I've never heard of anyone getting a warning for TV show downloading. It could happen, and if you do it, you could be the first. Until it is tested in court, we really won't know the legal status of such downloading. I'm under the impression that the courts would consider it the same as off the air recording, but I'm very good at being wrong when guessing what a court will do. That will have to be a personal decision for you to make. There are many places where you can find completely legal files to download and share Just what you consider has to be. Enjoy!!! ~~~
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