Edward Yom/Should Downloading and Sharing Music be Considered Illegal?/Tues 5~6

Should Downloading and Sharing Music be Considered Illegal?

 

     While many people believe that downloading and sharing music off the Internet is illegal and appropriate measures should be taken like being jailed or fined , I believe that it should not be considered illegal. Downloading and sharing music should be considered legal because it is in the grey area and it is almost impossible to track even if it means the music companies make less money.

 

     First, there isn't a clearly defined punishment for downloading music or distributing music. It is said that illegal downloading or distributing of music will lead to punishment. However, there aren't any strict regulations the prevent people from attaining the music. For example, when an author plagiarizes music from another author, it is considered a violation of the copyright law and there are numerous cases where authors were sued for plagiarism in court. Similar to that, there are strict regulations on stealing but there aren't any strict regulations on downloading, and distributing music. There are actually cases where music companies leak their music as advertisement creating new routes to obtain money. Since the line is very blurred, and the regulations were not emphasized it is unfair to punish people for downloading and distributing music. In order to make the downloading and distribution of music illegal, there needs to be clear regulations on what is considered distributing, and there needs to be separate punishments for the person who just downloaded the music, and the person who distributed the music. 

 

     Next, it is unclear which form of music distribution is either legal or illegal. For example, if a certain kind of music is protected by copyright and can not be distributed, will it be alright if somebody paid for the music and gave it to another person through a usb? How would the consumers of music be able to tell the difference between which music is alright to download, and which music are illegal to download? There are many cases where certain websites like youtube buy the guarantee to music and allows people to listen, and download music for free. How will it be possible to regulate where the music comes from, and set the limit to what is considered distributing?

 

     It may be true that the music companies may make less money due to the development of the internet opposed to the times when they sold CDs. If more music is pirated, the music companies may go bankrupt, and their quality of music may go down. However, most of the money they make are actually from live concerts, and most of the people who are willing to pay big money to go there probably got to know about the music through downloading it. 

 

     Like identity theft, and cyber bullying, illegal downloading and distribution of music can be considered a serious problem even if it takes place online. However, downloading and distribution is not only hard to regulate, but it also brings benefits like advertisement that may bring extra profit to the music company in the near future so it should not be considered illegal.