This Could Happen To You!

Think you're having a bad day? Not compared to Jammie Thomas! Ms. Thomas was just fined $220,000 for illegal music downloads and music file sharing on the internet. A few of the major music record labels sought damages for 24 of the 1,702 songs she is accused of offering for download through the file sharing program Kazaa. That's $9,250 PER SONG!

This type of file sharing is considered to be illegal because it violates copyright laws. The U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act is very strict. It says that the copying of copyrighted music, other than making a copy for your own use, is illegal. It is even considered illegal to purchase a CD and convert the files to MP3 format for your own use, because it is considered unauthorized adaptation.

The laws can be confusing, but you want to make sure you are doing the right thing. Free is great, but not at the loss of your favorite artists. They do need to get paid to entertain us, because that is what they do for a living. If the musicians had to do it for free, I'm sure there would be a lot less music going around - who wants to work for free?

If you are concerned about the rules of internet piracy and you want to make sure you are following the guidelines, you can check out this overview of the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

So, be honest, how many of you have ever downloaded something from the internet that you weren't sure if it was legal or not? If you found out what you did was illegal, would you still do it again? Feel free to comment and let us know your thoughts on this very touchy subject!

If you are interested in getting music downloads the free and legal way, feel free to check out http://www.mpfree.com/.