No.
Copyrite is also a grey area in the law. For example, I once bought Phil Collins on Vinyl, and downloaded a digital version later on - that must be okay right?
Music played over a radio is surely free isn't it? Anyone can listen without paying! The RIAA manage to sue lots of people, but they're usually extremely clear cut and very easy to prove.
The recording industry often issues threats and prevent uses that might actually be OK under the law. The issue is one of FUD "Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt" which gives rise to ignorance. An example is the miunderstanding that when downloading, LICENSING is the issue, not the file format. File types 'mp3' 'mp4' 'aac' and so on are not associated with legality of material. A music file in mp3 format may or may not be illegal. Such files may, or may not contain protection. In the real world, however, downloading MP3 music or using Torrent or P2P software is generally misunderstood as this language is often used to replace the phrase 'illegal' when referring to downloads.
The responsibility is yours, the person wishing to find music, to ensure the kind of license before you download. There are a great number of prosecutions and despite promises from the RIAA to do otherwise, they will continue. If you wish to avoid becoming a criminal, then there are several measures which you may take. A little research into your laws, and discovery of the truth (some of which is black and white, and some is printed in shades of grey) is advisable. There are some links to some interesting articles to help you in this matter.
NY Times - Free Music Downloaders Guide http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/techno…
Creative Commons
http://creativecommons.org/legalmusicfor…
ccMixter
Jamendo
Magnatune
Simuze
BeatPick
CASH Music
SectionZ
Opsound
Jamglue
Podsafe Audio
Splice
Internet Archive’s Netlabels Collection
There, lots of options to help you avoid the quagmire of FUD surrounding copyright material - you can simply go for Creative commons licence instead - they have registered OVER a million tunes so far.
Source(s):
Tune in to http://feeds2.feedburner.com/RatholeRadi…
RatholeRadio - Free music, mostly free to download - excellent one hour podcast
This answer was edited by a moderator 127 days ago.
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