(OT) Legal position of file-sharing (mp3) in the UK?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Hans Bartels
  • Start date Start date
SNIP
Naturally, if someone is doing somethig criminal then there may be
repercussions. On the other hand, I am intrigued by what other posters
in this thread appear to be saying - you can download mp3 files ok but
you can't make mp3 files available for upload. Have I understood this
correctly?
Click to expand...

That's what I said. But I have to correct myself. The legal actions taken
against individuals concerning filesharing are all against people making
files available, not against people downloading them. That doesn't mean
downloading is legal, downloading copyrighted materials is illegal.
It makes sense that 'they' are aiming for the individuals that share files,
because one shared file may be downloaded by a zillion individuals. And one
lawsuit is easier and cheaper than a zillion lawsuits.
 
There are no sure facts here, this field is changing and different in
different countries The little I know may be old knowledge today.

I know only a few people who have gotten into trouble. They have
downloaded commercial programs over P2P networks and got a warning from
their ISP who told them that this software protection organisation had
taken contact with the ISP. This happened earlier this year.

They were personal friends with the ISP boss, so he did not cut them off,
just told them that they had to stop.

5 years ago a friend received a letter, telling him that the person he
had downloaded from via a warez site and sent for CD:s from had been busted, and they had
his address list and they demanded that he packed up all the CD:s he had
sent for and sent them to them. He also must pay a fine, 100 dollars or
so. He paid the money but very few of the CD:s, telling them he had lost
them. He heard nothing more from them.

Let me remind you that there is a lot of music, mp3:s, which you can
download legally from many places on internet. I have never heard about
anybody getting trouble for downloading mp3:s, but most mp3:s available
through P2P networks are of course illegal.
Click to expand...

I have briefly looked at a Russian site which charges 10c per track:

http://www.mp3search.ru/

but I'm only after a couple of old tracks which they don't have.

I've tried Googling for legally downloadable mp3s but haven't had much
luck - does anyone know of any links?
It looks like the music industry has not yet started attacking illegal
downloaders on a big scale like the software industry has. But if and
when they do they will of course jump on the people who make them
available on a big scale before they jump on small scale downloaders.
Click to expand...

--

John Latter

Model of an Internal Evolutionary Mechanism (based on an extension to homeostasis) linking Stationary-Phase Mutations to the Baldwin Effect.
http://members.aol.com/jorolat/TEM.html

'Where Darwin meets Lamarck?' Discussion Egroup
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/evomech
 
Ahem...

England is mainly East.

HTH.
Click to expand...

Isn't England mainly central, with a few colonies to the west & north,
and restless natives in the other directions?

('gulp' I've done it now...)

--

John Latter

Model of an Internal Evolutionary Mechanism (based on an extension to homeostasis) linking Stationary-Phase Mutations to the Baldwin Effect.
http://members.aol.com/jorolat/TEM.html

'Where Darwin meets Lamarck?' Discussion Egroup
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/evomech
 
I just hate it when relatives fight!
Click to expand...

So do I but sometimes its unavoidable - after all, we're only
evolutionary relatives and neanderthals can be very spiteful.

(I think I've got a death wish...)

--

John Latter

Model of an Internal Evolutionary Mechanism (based on an extension to homeostasis) linking Stationary-Phase Mutations to the Baldwin Effect.
http://members.aol.com/jorolat/TEM.html

'Where Darwin meets Lamarck?' Discussion Egroup
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/evomech
 
John Latter said:
I've tried Googling for legally downloadable mp3s but haven't had much
luck - does anyone know of any links?
Click to expand...

You can record streaming media, that is not illegal.
It is just like recording real radio transmissions, which is also legal.

There are many record companies which let you download samples, one or
two songs from a CD they want to sell.

There are also many artists who want to become famous who distribute
their music for free.

Do a google search for .mp3 and you get 87 million hits, start checking
them out.

http://www.mp3-moviesitesreview.com/
 
Hans said:
Hi,

What is the current legal position of using programs like Kazaalite to
download mp3 files in the UK?

Are many people still doing it?

Has anyone been prosecuted?
Click to expand...
It is illegal.

Many people are still doing it, people are getting prosecuted although
mainly those doing LOTS of sharing.
 
John Latter said:
Anyone know what the situation is in England regarding ISPs giving out
personal information?
Click to expand...
THey have to if the information is asked for by a law enforcement
agency.
 
You can record streaming media, that is not illegal.
It is just like recording real radio transmissions, which is also legal.
Click to expand...

That sounds interesting Roger - ty!
There are many record companies which let you download samples, one or
two songs from a CD they want to sell.

There are also many artists who want to become famous who distribute
their music for free.

Do a google search for .mp3 and you get 87 million hits, start checking
them out.

http://www.mp3-moviesitesreview.com/
Click to expand...

--

John Latter

Model of an Internal Evolutionary Mechanism (based on an extension to homeostasis) linking Stationary-Phase Mutations to the Baldwin Effect.
http://members.aol.com/jorolat/TEM.html

'Where Darwin meets Lamarck?' Discussion Egroup
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/evomech
 
You can record streaming media, that is not illegal.
It is just like recording real radio transmissions, which is also legal.
Click to expand...
SNIP

You can actually record any type of media with impunity whether it is music, vocal, TV or movies
(think VCRs). However, the organisation/person you are receiving it from would be in a big
amount of trouble if they did not have the approval to broadcast what you recorded, just as you
would be in trouble if you tried to give/sell what you recorded to another person.

The major point is, downloading it is not breaking the law. Distributing copyrighted material
without the approval of the copyright holder is.

PS: Has anyone noticed over the last couple of years that radio stations usually have the
announcer still speaking as the song starts? That is to stop people from recording the song &
distributing it to their friends/P2P networks.
 
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