Music Piracy

In 1920 record companies began the distribution of musical works by way of radio stations throughout the country, and so began the world of music piracy. Google.com defines “piracy” as “hijacking on the high seas or in similar contexts; taking a ship or plane away from the control of those who are legally entitled to it”; similarly, music piracy can be defined as the illegitimate possession of music by way of illegally downloading, copying, or recording songs from the internet, or any other digital medium, so as to possess it without paying the legal owners. According to International Copyright Law any new idea based on no pre-existing work expressed in the form of music, whether written or performed, is copyrighted. Piracy of music has, as will be discussed, great effects on consumers and the music industry itself.

Over time, music piracy has, despite advances in tracking and security technology, become increasingly easier. Anyone with the ability to operate a computer and read can illegally obtain just about any music file they wish. There are two general ways music can be obtained illegally: Downloading, or saving music from the internet; and recording, ripping, or copying music from other recordings, live performances, CD’s, and digital files.

Downloading music is the most widely available and easiest form of music piracy. Many sites such as “Napster.com” have, in the past, been guilty of providing free music, however, now these sites are monitored and pay loyalties to the music industry for the music they offer. Downloading music illegally is done via a technology called P2P (Pier to Pier, or Person to Person) sharing. Internet databases of illegitimate music files are set up by everyday people and are used to share music with anyone who wishes to gain access to it and take the time, and the risk, to download.

Another way to pirate music is to take it from websites, which offer music strictly for entertainment; or websites, poems, and other works on the internet that have background music to them. These files are legally offered to the public as entertainment as long as no download option is available. However, anyone with a basic knowledge of how web pages are constructed and displayed on the internet can gain access to these music files and take them for their own personal use, this is piracy. One miss-conception about “entertainment-only” music and video files on web pages is that if downloading is made available, it is free. Although it may be free to download that particular file, this, also is illegal.