Can you be fined for downloading music

Making unauthorized copies of copyrighted music recordings is against the law and may subject you to civil and criminal liability. A civil lawsuit could hold you responsible for thousands of dollars in damages. You may find this surprising.

After all, compact discs may be easily be copied multiple times with inexpensive CD-R burning technology. Regardless of the format at issue, the same basic principle applies: music sound recordings may not be copied or distributed without the permission of the owner. A long series of court rulings has made it very clear that uploading and downloading copyrighted music without permission on P2P networks constitutes infringement and could be a crime. Technology has made digital copying easier than ever.

Here are tips on how to enjoy the music while respecting rights of others in the digital world. Are there occasionally exceptions to these rules? And, remember that there are lots of authorized sites where music can be downloaded for free.

Her lawyer Kiwi Camara said in an email they would try to take the case to the US supreme court. The RIAA sued more than 18, people for illegally sharing music in the mids. Most of those cases were settled out of court or dismissed — Thomas-Rasset's case being one of the few exceptions.

The group adjusted its anti-piracy strategy in and stopped suing individuals. Since then, it has been in talks with Internet Service Providers in an effort to create a new strategy to abet piracy. For example, if you try to download the video from the streaming site onto your hard drive, you have then independently broken the law and can be held responsible for that download.

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