Copying is Theft - and other legal myths

[MacBytes]

Category: Opinion and Speculation
Link: Copying is Theft - and other legal myths

Posted on MacBytes.com

[eric_n_dfw]

This was a pretty balanced article, IMO.

I take back all the times I said that people have stolen when they download songs they don't own. They've infringed on the copyright holder's rights. ("They" includes myself, BTW.)

Does it make it any better? Probably not.

PS: FWIW, ever since iTMS came out, I have been buying tracks that I listen to regularly and when I want a new track, I go there first. If it's not there, I'll look to P2P.

[Flowbee]

Originally posted by eric_n_dfw


I take back all the times I said that people have stolen when they download songs they don't own.

I just had to take one back in another thread .

[MrMacMan]

Yeah this was a good and nicely written article.

It is great for people who need an overview.

[Jerry Spoon]

This article is a bit ridiculous. The person writing it seems to go over all the appropriate circumstances you can copy
(not steal! God forbid you make that mistake b/c infringe sounds like you're not such a bad guy for not paying for all that music that you're using.)
music, but in reality, most people using p2p are not doing it for any of those reasons. Let's get real! Legal or illegal, I find it difficult to make the arguement that copying other people's music is really the right thing to do. I don't think many people (other than those who abuse p2p and stubbornly want to feel like they're in the right) can say using p2p is morally OK.

[Flowbee]

Originally posted by Jerry Spoon
This article is a bit ridiculous. The person writing it seems to go over all the appropriate circumstances you can copy
(not steal! God forbid you make that mistake b/c infringe sounds like you're not such a bad guy for not paying for all that music that you're using.)
music, but in reality, most people using p2p are not doing it for any of those reasons. Let's get real! Legal or illegal, I find it difficult to make the arguement that copying other people's music is really the right thing to do. I don't think many people (other than those who abuse p2p and stubbornly want to feel like they're in the right) can say using p2p is morally OK.

At the end of the article he does point out that copyright infringement is illegal and can carry stiff penalties. I think the article is more about legal definitions than the 'right or wrong' of using p2p to share music.

Clearly, downloading music with the sole intent of adding it to your collection without paying for it is the equivalent of stealing... even if it's not legally defined as such.

[Jerry Spoon]

Originally posted by Flowbee
I think the article is more about legal definitions than the 'right or wrong' of using p2p to share music.

My knowledge here on legal definitions of using p2p or using material for the internet is limited to the education field, which recieves just a sentence or so here, but the author's explanation of what is acceptable in the education field is so watered down that it would be reckless to follow his limited advice. That being the case, it makes me wonder how much research and proper reporting was done on the rest of this article. My guess is "not much" and I would disagree with comments that it is a good overview. Maybe it would be more proper to write that it so much of an overview that it doesn't really give useful information to the reader.