[accyman]

seen as this thread has been dragged into the region of copyright infringment regarding music if anyone happens to be worried that their mp3 files may not be legal dont worry about it too much .Heres a snipit from another thread i started

basicaly record companies are complaining that us downloading music is stealing what is effectivly already stolen material lol

Record Labels Face $6 Billion Damages for Pirating Artists


While the major record labels were dragging file-sharers and BitTorrent sites to court for copyright infringement, they were themselves being sued by aconglomerate of artists for exactly the same offenses. Warner, SonyBMG, EMI and Universal face up to $6 billion in damages for pirating amassive 300,000 tracks.

It is no secret that the major record labels have a double standard whenit comes to copyright. On the one hand they try to put operators ofBitTorrent sites in jail and ruin the lives of single mothers andstudents by demanding hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines, and onthe other they sell CDs containing music for which they haven’tobtained copyright permission.

In the past we’ve covered many disputes between artists and labels,where the latter is being accused or even sued for using songs withoutpermission. Just a few months ago Latin America’s biggest artist,Alejandro Fernández, sent the police to a Sony Music office to confiscate over 6,000 CDs that the label refused to return, and this is just the tip of the iceberg.

The labels have made a habit of using songs from a wide variety of artists for compilation CDs without securing the rights. They simply use the recording and make note of it on “pending list” so they can deal with it later. This has been going on since the 1980s and since then the list of unpaid tracks (or copyright infringements) has grownto 300,000.

Growing tired of the label’s piracy, a group of artists have filed a class-action lawsuitin Canada against four major labels connected to the CRIA, the local equivalent of the RIAA. In October last year Warner Music, Sony BMGMusic, EMI Music and Universal Music were sued for illegal use of thousands of tracks and at present the case is still underway.

How and why this blatant copyright infringement could go on for years is a mystery, but the label’s double standard has been picked up by the plaintiffs as well. “The conduct of the defendant record companies is aggravated by their strict and unremitting approach to the enforcement of their copyright interests against consumers,” the artists argue in their claim for damages.

The suit is still ongoing but already the labels have admitted to owing at least $50 million for infringing the rights of artists, andthis figure could grow as high as 6 billion. So who are the realpirates here?

when you buy a complilation CD you are supporting piracey lol


ps:

when you get your pc back flashy i will put some mp3 ripping software on for ya