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Music Sharing Information
* from CampusDownloading.com Please click here for an information video on the issues surrounding music sharing on the internet and campus network. Video Link
As with most new technologies, the Internet doesn’t just draw outside the lines of the conventional music industry – it offers the opportunity for truly revolutionary changes. But even in this new digital world, artists and record companies still have – and deserve – the right to protect their music.
Many of the same copyright laws also apply in cyberspace. Several new measures were enacted in the last few years to address issues that could not previously have been identified. This section reviews the legal issues surrounding the downloading and webcasting of music.
Many things have to be considered when legally downloading music online, but a central issue is copyright. Copyright is the protection of the original expression of an idea, whether it is expressed in the form of music, a painting, or written material. Most existing copyright laws are valid in the online realm just as they are offline.
Specific legislation has been passed to more directly address digital concerns. The No Electronic Theft (NET) Act criminalizes sound recording copyright infringements occurring on the Internet regardless of whether there is financial gain from such infringements. A copyright is infringed when a song is made available to the public by uploading it to an Internet site for other people to download, sending it through an e-mail or chat service, or otherwise reproducing or distributing copies without authorization from the copyright owner. In civil cases copyright infringement can occur whether or not money was exchanged for the music, and in criminal cases there only needs to be a possibility of financial loss to the copyright holder or financial gain to the infringer. The NET Act sets penalties for willful copyright infringement.
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