What is "sharing" music

[fueledbymusic]

What is the name of your state? California

I have been trying to get an accurate answer for this question. I can seem to get a perfect answer (a very EASY to understand answer)

1) example: When they say sharing music is illegal. What are they exactly talking about? Are they saying you can't SHARE with your friends your CD etc. What makes/ or what is it about "sharing" music that is so bad, and WHY the RIAA is threaten about it???? Isn't "sharing" just sharing.

2) Is is illegal to share music to your own family member??

3) Is is true that it is realistically illegal to rip a CD that you LEGALLY purchased to the computer harddrive?? Is that true??

 

[TheGeekess]

I have been trying to get an accurate answer for this question. I can seem to get a perfect answer (a very EASY to understand answer)

1) example: When they say sharing music is illegal. What are they exactly talking about? Are they saying you can't SHARE with your friends your CD etc. What makes/ or what is it about "sharing" music that is so bad, and WHY the RIAA is threaten about it???? Isn't "sharing" just sharing.

Sharing music is making it available via FTP/file-sharing software/HTTP/NNTP to anyone and everyone who might care to download it.

If your friend can get the latest country rap song from you for free, is he going to buy it from iTunes? Probably not, thereby causing the owner of the song to lose money. That's why the RIAA has been cracking down for so long.

2) Is is illegal to share music to your own family member??

I believe that is covered by fair usage.

3) Is is true that it is realistically illegal to rip a CD that you LEGALLY purchased to the computer harddrive?? Is that true??

No, it is not illegal to make a copy of a cd for your own usage. It is illegal to share that music with the rest of the world outside your household.

 

[fueledbymusic]

So in that case, music sharing is the same as UPLOADING music to a friend, right?
Or is it, the friend is "looking" in your computer to "grab" and download the song.

Is downloading a song considered the same as sharing music?
IE: If a friend downloads say 100 songs, is HE doing the crime of SHARING music?

Can I get a good example of how music is shared? Does the user of the P2P site do this by "moving" his/her mp3s to the "SHARED music" folder etc??

 

[justalayman]

uploading or downloading are both illegal but they have been hitting the uploaders the hardest.

it is not quite that simple but in generalities, that is it.

It's kind of like a drug dealer and a junkie. You bust the junkie and you got one guy and you stop one guy from using. You bust the dealer and you stop a lot of drugs from hitting the street.

in general terms, you can make copies of CD's but you cannot share those with anybody, including family.

 

[divgradcurl]

1) example: When they say sharing music is illegal. What are they exactly talking about? Are they saying you can't SHARE with your friends your CD etc. What makes/ or what is it about "sharing" music that is so bad, and WHY the RIAA is threaten about it???? Isn't "sharing" just sharing.

Look up 17 U.S.C. 106(3). A copyright grants the owner the right to control the distribution of their work. Don't focus on the word "sharing" -- what you are doing is legally "distributing," and the copyright statutes give the right to control the distribution of a copyrighted work to the copyright owner.

2) Is is illegal to share music to your own family member??

What do you mean by "sharing" in this context? If you buy a CD, you can rip it to MP3, you can make a backup copy of the CD, etc. Same with a purchased MP3 from iTunes or wherever. Technically, however, you are only supposed to be able to listen to one copy of the particular CD or song at one time. So, if you have a CD, rip it so that the MP3 is on your iPod, then put the CD in your car, then that is okay, because you are either in the car or listening to your iPod.

Loaning you iPod to someone else while you listen to the CD in your car, however, is technically infringing. So is giving a family member a copy of your CD for their own use. Practically, however, you are unlikely to face any issues with this sort of activity.

Once you get away from "sneakernet" and start putting stuff up on P2P networks or websites, well, then you are flirting with trouble.

3) Is is true that it is realistically illegal to rip a CD that you LEGALLY purchased to the computer harddrive?? Is that true??

This is legal. See RIAA v. Diamond Multimedia.

 

[fueledbymusic]

How come "uploading" of music is hit hardest?

 

[justalayman]

did you see the drug dealer analogy?

 

[divgradcurl]

So in that case, music sharing is the same as UPLOADING music to a friend, right?
Or is it, the friend is "looking" in your computer to "grab" and download the song.

Uploading (or sharing) violates the copyright holder's right to control distribution of their copyrighted work under 17 U.S.C. 106(3). Downloading violates the copyright holder's right to control reproduction (because you make a copy) under 17 U.S.C. 106(1).

Actually, uploading may also violate reproduction rights as well, if a copy is made.

And, before you ask, there is a difference under copyright law between a legal reproduction (a backup copy, or a legally "space-shifted" copy under RIAA v Diamond) and an illegal reproduction (a copy made for purposes of distribution without a license).

Is downloading a song considered the same as sharing music?
IE: If a friend downloads say 100 songs, is HE doing the crime of SHARING music?

No. As noted above, downloading and sharing violate different rights held by the copyright holder. Practically though, the consequences are the same.

The RIAA has historically gone after the "sharers" because one sharer can conceivably cause the creation of hundreds or thousands of infringing copies of a song, while a downloader only make a single copy for each song they take. But both are equally liable.

Plus, a leecher (a downloader who doesn't share) is much harder to trace and track down than a sharer. To find a sharer, just jump on a P2P network and look for a song. To catch a leecher, you need to be the sharer and have a leecher come looking for you.

But since most downloaders also share, the distinction is not such a big deal in most cases.

Can I get a good example of how music is shared? Does the user of the P2P site do this by "moving" his/her mp3s to the "SHARED music" folder etc??

This is a good question. Generally, there is no "offer for sale" liability in copyright law, like there is in patent law. However, there have been courts that have found that merely placing a file in a shared folder is sufficient to show "sharing" and therefore distribution. Might want to read this article: http://www.out-law.com/page-8422

To be fair, there is a lot of legal scholarship out there that thinks this case came out the wrong way -- but your mileage may vary, as they say!

 

[fueledbymusic]

did you see the drug dealer analogy?

Im mixed up!

But it makes me think of what someone told me once: When two countries go to war. Countries comment : If we want to do a very effective killing, we got to "pull the plant out completely by the roots!" "Cause just plucking the leaves is not going to do the trick!"

 

[divgradcurl]

Im mixed up!

Why? Seems like the explanations given were pretty clear.

 

[fueledbymusic]

Why? Seems like the explanations given were pretty clear.

Not you (divgradcurl)

I was mixed up with the drug dealer analogy Im mixed up with! BUT I getting it though!! (Justalayman)

You (divgradcurl) gave me very good explanations! I now finnally understand more of this RIAA stuff. Thanks for your explanation!

 

[justalayman]

very similar to your roots analogy.

you get rid of the leaves and the plant grows back. You get rid of the root and it bothers you no more.

the uploader is the drug dealer or the root and the downloader is the junkie (user) or the leaves.

 

[fueledbymusic]

Love Those Answers!

Thanks all for the super accurate answers! I will print all the threads about this issues and show them to some I know of playing with fire!

So the basics I LEARNED TONIGHT in my lesson are :

1) Uploader = drug dealers/plants by the root. And is why uploaders are "HIT" harder.

2) Downloaders = junkie buying one drug/ a single leaf of a plant!

3) Sharing = making your mp3s available for others to download for anyone who wants a copy.

4) Leecher = A downloader who uses the downloads for just his personal use.

5) I can make a 10 copies or 2000000 copies of a cd as long I use them as back ups, personal use, or put one copy in the other 1999999 cars I have where it's only me who ever uses those CDs

 

[fueledbymusic]

A couple more questions.

Let's see.....

Yes..

1) When someone uses a P2P site (Limewire etc). HOW COME/ or WHAT MAKES some people want to use the feature that the site offers that allows "sharing" the music. Thus, WHY do people WANT to "share" music. What's the trend here? Do they KNOW the risk of being the "drug dealer"?

2) Does all "sharing" of music INVOLVE uploading files to Limewire etc OR is it just simply "moving" the music (mp3s) to the "shared" folder WITHIN the computer. IE: When I sell a car on Autotrader.com, I need to upload photos to their system.

3a) What would happen if someone got caught downloading only ONE SONG (not sharing, just being a leech). And RIAA has evidence of only ONE song downloaded. What charges/cost would downloader face for just that one song? 3b) What happens if "sharing" ONE song. (I think it would be close to $10000 each song for question 3b, I think I heard)

 

[justalayman]

1) When someone uses a P2P site (Limewire etc). HOW COME/ or WHAT MAKES some people want to use the feature that the site offers that allows "sharing" the music. Thus, WHY do people WANT to "share" music. What's the trend here? Do they KNOW the risk of being the "drug dealer"?

It is typically a default setting in the program and neeeds to be disabled if one chooses not to share. Many people (kids) don't know or care about the legal implications of their actions.

2) Does all "sharing" of music INVOLVE uploading files to Limewire etc OR is it just simply "moving" the music (mp3s) to the "shared" folder WITHIN the computer. IE: When I sell a car on Autotrader.com, I need to upload photos to their system.

the files are not actually uploaded to Limewire (or others) they are uploaded from your computer and downloaded simultaneously and they only pass through limewire. That was Napsters arguement for a long time. They did not do anything regarding the actual file transfer, they simply allowed it. We all know what happened to Napster, don;t we? Again, the program designates the file the music is placed in as a shared folder. You can make any folder in your computer a shared folder, or not. The fact that you allow sharing is what divgradcurl spoke of when he was telling you about intent.

3a) What would happen if someone got caught downloading only ONE SONG (not sharing, just being a leech). And RIAA has evidence of only ONE song downloaded. What charges/cost would downloader face for just that one song? 3b) What happens if "sharing" ONE song. (I think it would be close to $10000 each song for question 3b, I think I heard)

I doubt they would bother with one song stealers but you never know, which is what they want everybody to be thinking whenever they steal music. The last I heard, the RIAA was offering a settlement of about $5k and a promise never to do this again to avoid litigation.

that woman that lost that $200k should have taken it.


btw: can I borrow one of your 1,999,999 cars. I promise I will return it promptly and with no damage.