It depends on who you ask. Though LW is a P2P program, the mere idea of sharing copyrighted songs is what's troubling the music industry. I personally believe that if you share songs that don't have a license (or the copyright has long since expired), then you should be fine. However, I could be wrong. I've had people online tell me that by obtaining and sharing songs through LW, I could very well be breaking the law. I want to argue with them by telling them that according to what I've heard from this forum, it IS NOT against the law to obtain and share songs from LW.

You guys are hilarious

Look at YOUR, keyword being YOUR, local laws. If they say it's allright. Then it's allright. If they say it's illegal, then chances are that you are one of the unlucky ones that gets sued.

Don't read on some forum and think that's the law. Look it up for Gods sake, like people have asked users to do countless times on THIS FORUM.

Whether the laws are any good, that's a whole other story. But I can assure you that if your laws say it's allright to share, then nothing more can happen then the RIAA convincing your ISP that they should terminate your connection.

Well, I'm just stating my own opinions, and at times I have a tendency to speak my mind. It's just that the idea of being sued over sharing songs through LW is outrageous, from my point of view. Then again, I probably have a narrow-minded view of laws regarding what should/shouldn't be shared on LW. I do know that selling copyrighted songs is illegal, so I'd like to think I'm not totally ignorant on that fact. However, I (as well as others) don't intend to sell music, we only intend to obtain music for our own private and personal use. Isn't that what P2P is all about? If not, then perhaps I need an explanation (or I need to read the stickies posted on the rules/regulations regarding sharing songs).

Sharing of copyrighted songs on p2p was not illegal in Australia. Selling copied songs as in piracy was. But since the recent USA/Australian trade agreement, unfortunately things have changed a little bit. As Sleepless pointed out, check your local laws.

If people can't get copies of copyrighted songs from p2p then they will just copy off the radio (or friends.) Duh! Wake up! Anti p2p sharing laws will make very little difference to them. The recording industry is simply too slow to keep up with new technologies & searching for scapegoats & looking for excuses to explain to their investors, etc. They have been caught out in the dark ages & now crying.

(Wish You Were Here album by P.F. is old but still very valid. lol )

I got it now! Many thanks

And where would one go to read the law? I am in the U.S. by the way.

__________________


If you dont live for something...
You die for nothing...

lol @ giant Google

Hehe

This is from the website of the United States Copyright Office at
U.S. Copyright Office

(This excerpt is from
U.S. Copyright Office - Can I Use Someone Else’s Work? Can Someone Else Use Mine? (FAQ))

Is it legal to download works from peer-to-peer networks and if not, what is the penalty for doing so?

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. Anyone found to have infringed a copyrighted work may be liable for statutory damages up to $30,000 for each work infringed and, if willful infringement is proven by the copyright owner, that amount may be increased up to $150,000 for each work infringed. In addition, an infringer of a work may also be liable for the attorney's fees incurred by the copyright owner to enforce his or her rights.

Whether or not a particular work is being made available under the authority of the copyright owner is a question of fact. But since any original work of authorship fixed in a tangible medium (including a computer file) is protected by federal copyright law upon creation, in the absence of clear information to the contrary, most works may be assumed to be protected by federal copyright law.

Since the files distributed over peer-to-peer networks are primarily copyrighted works, there is a risk of liability for downloading material from these networks. To avoid these risks, there are currently many "authorized" services on the Internet that allow consumers to purchase copyrighted works online, whether music, ebooks, or motion pictures. By purchasing works through authorized services, consumers can avoid the risks of infringement liability and can limit their exposure to other potential risks, e.g., viruses, unexpected material, or spyware.

Sooo...

According to this, you can be charged between $30,000 and $150,000 for EVERY FILE THAT YOU DOWNLOAD!

There may be stricter legislation in the individual states...

Hope this helps (and wakes you up)

Dano