{"id":455,"date":"2005-10-07T20:18:41","date_gmt":"2005-10-07T20:18:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.docbug.com\/blog\/archives\/455"},"modified":"2005-10-07T20:18:41","modified_gmt":"2005-10-07T20:18:41","slug":"yes-virginia-downloading-copyrighted-material-without-permission-is-illegal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.docbug.com\/blog\/archives\/455","title":{"rendered":"Yes, Virginia, downloading copyrighted material without permission is illegal…"},"content":{"rendered":"

There’s a myth I keep hearing that downloading copyrighted music without permission is perfectly legal under US law, and that only uploading is illegal. (I just got an anonymous comment on an old post<\/a> to that effect, which is why I bring it up now.) I gather the myth spread after the RIAA decided to go after big uploaders but not big downloaders in their jihad, and was bolstered by a NYTimes piece<\/a> that starts with the line “Downloading music from the Internet is not illegal.”<\/p>\n

Unfortunately for would-be downloaders, this is just a myth, as the 9th Circuit’s ruling in A&M Records v. Napster<\/a> makes clear:<\/p>\n

\n

We agree that plaintiffs have shown that Napster users infringe at least two of the copyright holders\u2019 exclusive rights: the rights of reproduction, \u00a7 106(1); and distribution, \u00a7 106(3). Napster users who upload file names to the search index for others to copy violate plaintiffs\u2019 distribution rights. Napster users who download files containing copyrighted music violate plaintiffs\u2019 reproduction rights. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The US Copyright Office’s FAQ<\/a> also puts it quite plainly:<\/p>\n

\n

Uploading or downloading works protected by copyright without the authority of the copyright owner is an infringement of the copyright owner’s exclusive rights of reproduction and\/or distribution.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

So what did that old NYTimes article mean when it said downloading is legal? Simply that there is plenty of music<\/a> available where the copyright holders have already given permission for you to download, share and enjoy. And that<\/i>, Virginia, is why there is a Santa Claus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There’s a myth I keep hearing that downloading copyrighted music without permission is perfectly legal under US law, and that only uploading is illegal. (I just got an anonymous comment on an old post<\/a> to that effect, which is why I bring it up now.) I gather the myth spread after the RIAA decided to go after big uploaders but not big downloaders in their jihad, and was bolstered by a NYTimes piece<\/a> that starts with the line “Downloading music from the Internet is not illegal.”<\/p>\n

Unfortunately for would-be downloaders, this is just a myth, as the 9th Circuit’s ruling in A&M Records v. Napster<\/a> makes clear:<\/p>\n

\n

We agree that plaintiffs have shown that Napster users infringe at least two of the copyright holders\u2019 exclusive rights: the rights of reproduction, \u00a7 106(1); and distribution, \u00a7 106(3). Napster users who upload file names to the search index for others to copy violate plaintiffs\u2019 distribution rights. Napster users who download files containing copyrighted music violate plaintiffs\u2019 reproduction rights. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The US Copyright Office’s FAQ<\/a> also puts it quite plainly:<\/p>\n

\n

Uploading or downloading works protected by copyright without the authority of the copyright owner is an infringement of the copyright owner’s exclusive rights of reproduction and\/or distribution.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

So what did that old NYTimes article mean when it said downloading is legal? Simply that there is plenty of music<\/a> available where the copyright holders have already given permission for you to download, share and enjoy. And that<\/i>, Virginia, is why there is a Santa Claus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-intellectual-property"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.docbug.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.docbug.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.docbug.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.docbug.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.docbug.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.docbug.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.docbug.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.docbug.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.docbug.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}