Penalties for Downloading Music
Piracy of copyrighted material, including printed matter and music recordings, has existed for as long as there have been copyrights. In recent years, the largest growth in illegal copying has been in the area of music files downloaded on the Internet. File-sharing networks generate a huge amount of piracy. To protect creators of music from loss of rightful income, the FBI investigates the distribution of copyrighted materials, which is illegal according to Title 17 of the U.S. Code, Sections 501 and 506.
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Copyright Infringement Is Theft
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Making unauthorized copies of music recordings is considered to be theft, and copiers are prosecuted when caught. Only with the express permission of the copyright holder is one allowed to make copies without paying for them. This applies even to file sharing without charging money or making any profit.
Criminal Penalties
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For those caught illegally sharing music files even once, there is no one-time warning or "slap on the wrist." The prison sentence for convicted offenders can be as long as five years, with fines running to a quarter of a million dollars.
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Civil Penalties
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Offenders can be separately sued in civil court for piracy of recorded music. Lawsuits for a single pirated song can reach $150,000 if the piracy is deemed to be intentional.
File-Sharing Websites
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Napster and Kazaa are just two of the free music file providers shut down by the government in recent years. Everyone who ever did business with such organizations is also liable for theft of copyrighted property.
Fining Individual Users
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In early 2009, the recording industry successfully prosecuted its first individual, a Minnesota woman, for online music sharing. For sharing 24 songs, she was required by a federal civil jury to pay a total of $222,000. She got off lightly, having been actually accused of sharing more than 1,700 songs.
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