Legality of downloading music on the Internet...?
928111
it is illegal to both download AND upload copyrighted content in the same way it's illegal to go and steal stuff from a store.\n\nregardless of whether you do or don't share the music/movies/software you download makes no difference to whether the MPAA/RIAA/whatever can catch you...the government aren't bothered about detecting piracy incidentally, it's the big corporations that hunt out/monitor illegal file sharing.\n\nit could be debated that downloading the odd file here and there holds less of a risk of being nailed and fined/jailed/taken to court by the large copyright holders but that's no consolation to anyone that *does* get caught downloading the odd file.\n\nthe internet is not a private and secure medium by nature, pretty much anyone with a small amount of knowledge can see what you're uploading or downloading with relative ease.
423517
Well hypothetically, I would try any P2P file sharing program, like Lime Wire or Direct Connect (DC++);  but that would be illegal.
705886
They are legal as long as you trade files you\nown copyrights and distribution rights.\nDistributing "commercial" music and videos is\nillegal.\nDistributing music you have composed yourself\nor your own interpretation of music that is in the\npublic domain (i.e., classical music) is legal.\n\nEven if Limewire or Bearshare are found to be\n"illegal" in the sense to been found cooperating\nwith people distributing illegally "commercial"\nmusic or videos, that wouldn't affect you if you\nwere not part of that infringement.\n\nDisclaimer: IANAL (I am not a lawyer).
544026
any illegal website....\n\n=o)\n\nTry mininova.org or limewire.com
58889
Well, as long as you're not selling them to make a profit, it's ok. Just make sure you're not doing anything illegal. I don't see a problem with sharing music like that. It's like if one of my friends brought some CDs over and I ripped the music to my computer. I could listen to their music all I want and they could still keep the CD in their car or w/e. As long as it's legal, you shouldn't feel guilty.
522210
Getting free songs is illegall. But you are probably say to yourself "who cares" So if you really want some free music download a file sharing program (google search "file sharing") It lets you search for any song in the word, download it in 1 minute, and at no cost. I hope that that helps.
1133010
If you don't pay for it is is illegal. But I can't really see too much of a problem with it. The artist get so little of the money you would pay for it you're not stealing from them, just from the record companies. Furthermore there is a small legal loophole. Downloading and Sharing are different offences. You usually only get a warning the first time around too-but don't get caught!
18094
Install http://www.emule-project.net, please download only music that is in public domain.
724032
There are quiet a few ways to get music off the Internet. I won't go into the legalities of all of them. Obviously, if you are getting someones copyrighted material without paying, then that's probably not legal. \n\nThere are services that you can use to get music that WILL pay the artists who created the songs. The most popular are probably...\n\nApple iTunes -> http://www.itunes.com\nNapster -> http://www.napster.com\nand even WalMart -> http://www.walmart.com/swap/SwapEntry.do?dslURL=/swap/LoadMain.do%3FmainCategoryId%3D2500\n\nAll of these services will sell you songs between .85 and $1.00 per song or so.\n\nThere are quite a few services advertised on Clickbank that make the promise that for a one time membership fee, you can download an unlimited number of songs. Here are those services. I cannot attest to how well they work, so research them by visiting them...\n\nUnlimited Download Center -> http://watersaffl.udc01.hop.clickbank.net?tid=YAHOOANS\nMovie Downloads.com -> http://watersaffl.movies01.hop.clickbank.net?tid=YAHOOANS\nUnlimited MP3 Music -> http://watersaffl.gamecity.hop.clickbank.net?tid=YAHOOANS\nHot MP3 Downloads -> http://watersaffl.mp3hot.hop.clickbank.net?tid=YAHOOANS\n\nI have had good luck finding music on BitTorrent sites. BitTorrent is an Internet protocol for moving very large files. It's not the same as P2P (limewire and such), but it relies on other users in the BitTorrent community leaving their music files available. I have often been frustrated by downloading a song or album only to find that after it downloads 95%, it stops because not enough BitTorrent seeders have kept the files available. The upside to BitTorrents are that they download extremely fast! \n\nYou'll need a BitTorrent client to download torrents. I use Azureus. It's a free and very nice client application that you can get here...\nhttp://azureus.sourceforge.net/\n\n\nYou'll also need a few BitTorrent tracker sites. Here are a few to get you started...\nTorrentSpy -> http://www.torrentspy.com/\nThe Pirates Bay -> http://thepiratebay.org/\nISO Hunt -> http://isohunt.com/\nMiniNova -> http://www.mininova.org\n\nFinally, I have had great luck finding unknown artists by using an NNTP News Server. NNTP is an old Bulletin Board type of protocol. NNTP means Network News Transport Protocol. But the NNTP community has evolved into about 50,000 different 'channels' that cover every imaginable subject and there is a way to 'encode' binary files to place them on these NNTP groups. For music, music is grouped into different 'genres'. For example, I download Jazz and Reggae from two different channels. It is not easy to find any particular song or artist, so I just download everything in a group and often find songs and artists that I've never heard of before.\n\nTo download music from NNTP groups, you'll need a News Reader. There are some free ones out there. I use this one...\nhttp://www.newsbinpro.com/\n\nWell, that ought to keep you busy for a while! Good luck!
882504
Well we all know that technically its illegal but I have no problem with it.  If you have tried to get the music legally and can only obtain it through the net the "Que sera"! lol
875630
Legally you don't. And beware of sites where you can because you are not only downloading songs but lots of spyware and adware too, this can bog your computer down. Just buy it so the artist and everyone who worked hard on the album can get paid.
339680
Isnt it illegal to even have limewire?
614812
I say to use imesh or kazaa to download the song. Afterall, if your too cheap to buy it then you should get nailed for stealing it.
251385
Downloading and uploading are both legal in and of themselves. The only problem is when you make copies of copyrighted material without the permission of the rightful owner. Exceptions exist if the copy is being made for personal backup, for news reporting or education.\n\nSometimes artists and production agencies won't "go after" uploaders or downloaders, depending on which file-sharing systems are used and how easy it is to locate the users. My suggestion is that even without a threat of prosecution or a lawsuit that you cease from future illegal file-sharing because the artists and their agencies have the ethical right to control the fruits of their labor, not you.
941261
Just because it's free doesn't mean it's illegal.  Free, legal downloads with permission from the bands, no BS, no credit card or subscription required:\nhttp://www.archive.org/details/etree\nhttp://stash.nugs.net/stash.asp\nhttp://bt.etree.org\n\nCheck this out too (streaming media only, but tons of great stuff):\nhttp://sugarmegs.org
456071
Well as the others say, yes, technically, in probably most cases, the music is will be copyrighted material and so it is illegal to take it for free, or indeed to give it out (share it) for free - without the copyright-holder's permission. Despite some high-profile cases where individuals have been, successfully of course, prosecuted by record companies for illegal filesharing, this is obviously a scare tactic by the record companies, and we are talking about a handful of individuals being prosecuted - out of, I imagine hundreds of millions of file-sharers - so the risk to you is really extremely small.\n\nAs regards what Mr. Edwards says about viruses, well I have to say it seems like he is anti-filesharing and therefore he would say that to put you off - although I may be wrong(?). In reality I would say, although he is right there are many viruses on filesharer's computers, the risk is no greater really than that associated with using the rest of the internet - I mean to put it in perspective, if you don't use filesharing because you're worried about downloading viruses through it then you shouldn't really use the internet either.\n\n**This is not to say of course that you shouldn't be careful** Take all the precautions that you do with the rest of the net - make sure you have proper anti-virus, firewall, anti-spyware software and use it! Virus-scan your downloads - you'll find, handily that many popular filesharing software - this may help you choose - will have a setting in the options to *automatically* scan all incoming files using you installed anti-virus software.\n\nAnd if you do get a virus etc through filesharing, just bear in mind it could *equally* happened through email, browsing etc.\n\nRather an essay there but hope that helps!
28369
Usually When You Pay For The Download Of music It’s Legal. It Usually Cost Less Than A $1.00 A Song