Downloading Music

[inlovewiththe44]

I know this has been a topic of discussion before, but I would still like to discuss it in terms of me personally and get some other questions answered.

I have never been one to get my music solely from illegal venues; most of the stuff I have on my iPod, I have bought myself. But there is a lot on there that has been purchased on a cheap website that I am not sure gives funds to where they are due. Also, I have gotten a lot of copies of CDs from friends, family members, etc. I felt called to replace all the music I have that I did not buy personally with copies that I do buy. I have a few questions regarding this:

If I am not keeping some of the music that I did not purchase to begin with, should I purchase it anyway to make up for what I did not pay for before?

Also, in regards to making copies for close friends and family, is that wrong? Should I feel bad if someone has made me copies of music?

These are some of the questions that have been on my mind lately, and as I reconfigure my music library, I would like to get some advice on this.

Thanks in advance for the help everyone!

[BavarianWheels]

IMHO: I would say that if this has you up at night, purchase the more recent music that you have in your library (maybe within the last 6 months) and simply turn the new leaf to make legitimate purchases from now on.

[PaulSacramento]

When we take something that doesn't belong to us, what is it?
When we take something that was taken by someone else and not paid for, what are we doing?
Is it OK to buy stolen goods>
Is it OK to take something without paying for it?
Would we be ok with that if someone did it to us?
We all know the answer to these questions.

[Reactionary]

When we take something that doesn't belong to us, what is it?
When we take something that was taken by someone else and not paid for, what are we doing?
Is it OK to buy stolen goods>
Is it OK to take something without paying for it?
Would we be ok with that if someone did it to us?
We all know the answer to these questions.

I must disagree, Paul. To break into a music store and steal a bunch of CDs, is one thing. To copy a CD from somebody else, is another. Do you see the difference? By stealing (literally) a medium, you take something that costed money to the one who made it (polycarbonate plastic, booklet, box, etc.). That's called theft - taking property that belongs to another person. By copying a CD, you don't take anything from anyone - the original CD is intact. The problem with your opinion is that it leads to absurd scenarios. What if you go outside in the street and hear a song that you didn't pay for? Did your ears commit theft? Please.

What's the difference between listening to a song on the radio, and recording it on a tape/hard drive so you can listen to it when you want? Or, what about listening to classical music, or any artist who has been long dead - do you still have to pay not to feel guilty? It would certainly be unethical to distribute copies of music and make money out of it, but admiring works of art for personal enjoyment, is a right that shouldn't be infringed on.

[MarcusOfLycia]

As a musician/composer myself - and a computer scientist, this is an issue I've thought about a lot. I think our current 'sophisticated' notions of intellectual property are pathetic. We need a way for musicians and composers (and other artists) to make a living from their work, but the natural consequence of our technology is to make it easier and easier to obtain art for free. In some ways, this might be good. But we are getting to a point where artists really can't earn livings from recordings (unless they are HUGE artists). Even with digital distribution, your likelihood of getting enough people to actually -buy- your work is pretty small.

I think it is one of the curses of our modern world, and sort of ironic. We are in an age where it should be easier than ever for people to distribute their artist products to any number of people on the planet instantly, and yet it is harder than ever to make a living doing so not because of competition, but because it is possible for the first time in our history to obtain those things for free without consequence most of the time.