Do you buy your music or steal it?

^^

Smart of you, sarahk. If it's a software or product like yours that I saw somewhere that fits my need and is for sale, I'd probably buy it if my budget permits. But I'm talking about (popular) music and movies readily available for download not just in torrent sites.

Now people don't just download one song if they are really into music: they want the whole album or collection of not just one singer or band. However, they don't have money to buy every song they like on Amazon, for example, specially in third world countries where 5 or ten dollars may equate a day's wage, worth 3 meals. Even if someone can afford, what will prevent him from downloading the songs if he sees others doing the same without being penalized?

If the artists don't want their music to be stolen, then Youtube should stop sharing them. And why stolen? For having the songs in your hard drive so you can listen to them at any time? Stolen because you did not ask the artist's permission before playing them? You hear them everywhere, why should listening in your home be any different? Again, I am talking in the context of one who lives in a country where downloading music or movies from the internet is widespread. Still, we are big movie buffs who flock to the theaters to watch the latest Hollywood blockbuster, not just for the 3d experience. It's always fun to watch with live audience and share their reactions in the scenes.

On one hand, foreign artists adore us for always patronizing their concerts here; for being such avid fans. Why not? We love their music. We have easy access to them, thanks to the internet - we can now play them on our computers, cellphones, laptops, tablets, what have you...aside from listening to them on the radio.

The word is NOT stealing. Stealing is when you took away something completely from the owner that he or she will no longer have access to it. If you intend to make profit from the song or movie by reproducing it big time for business purposes, then that is clearly unethical - unless you give a percentage of the profit to the owner or music company, or maybe donate to some charity, lol. But if you only want to use the material for your own enjoyment, then that is, in fact, a form of promotion. By listening to a song in full speaker, you are promoting the singer and his music, his compositions. That is what music or tv stations do; just that they are obliged to pay because they are in business. What if you, an ordinary person, sings in public, or while taking a shower? Can you be charged? Maybe you just mention the singer or composer before a song - and rest assured by the time you are finished, someone already called an ambulance...-p

What about those singing in videoke or karaoke bars? Do they get charged for every song, other than for using the machine?

Sometimes we say, "he stole my idea." But you can't say, "he stole my music," just because the person happens to download your song that he enjoys listening over and over again...unless you meant metaphorically, like, "you stole my heart." Whatever happens, a singer can always play his own music any time of the day and always gets credited for his song, just like a movie always has credits at the end.

This is the by-product of Technology - the same technology that let us enjoy the internet and the iphone. So I think everyone should just learn to accept things as they happen in the "digital" world. Unless something is done by the powers that be, I don't think this practice will go away. Others may not find it right, but it's neither necessarily wrong. Clearly, the internet has its own culture that we can not hope to duplicate in the real world. So we just learn to live with it.

 

It has been 10 years since I bought an Original Disc, even the Government & Police openly encourage piracy.

 

This is hot talk but whatever the argument, I'd go with sarahk even though I never bought a copy of microsoft's software myself . it is so rampant it doesn't feel wrong to do so although it does is. And same applies for artistic work as a lot of money and effort is put in producing them. So ethically, if you cannot afford to pay for something you need to have, you don't have the right to own it. youtube or other such media is only for promoting and showcasing such work, in expectation of getting people interested in their other work. And so it doesn't license anyone to simply obtain those other works from sources other than specified by the artist, like online or offline shops.

 

i always like to preffer download free music..

 

so what's next? "Do you buy movie or steal it?" or "Do you buy car or steal it?"?

 

I just download them through Androids free MP3 apps

 

Definition of stealing - taking something that's not free without paying for it. IOW, downloading is stealing, unless the owner (copyright owner, in this case) uploaded it to be downloaded for free. Don't they teach morals and ethics in Bangladesh?

James, you don't get sued for stealing - period. You get arrested for stealing. You get sued for causing damage - in this case financial damage - to someone else.
So you're right - copying isn't stealing. Copying something you don't have the legal right to copy is stealing. AND it's a civil delict (for which you do get sued).

Playing with words ("doing something illegal isn't a civil delict") doesn't change anything - copying music or movies you don't have the owner's permission to copy is both illegal (in the US - some countries aren't actually civilized enough to recognize personal property rights) and a civil delict. So is aiding someone else in doing so. (IOW, uploading stolen music and movies is illegal too. So is running a site that allows it. And they're both civil delicts.)

 

So many sites that provide free music download.

 

I own all of my music. I've got tons of CDs which I bought when FYE went out of biz around me. 50 cents a CD was a steal IMO

 

Taking someone's property without permission to do it is theft, yes probably with nuances. But copying is not. A copy of something is not the property in itself.
It's not hard to understand and I'm sure many people do, but still you want to achieve the result that copying is theft, so you find a way to bend the reasoning to fit it in.
Won't work.

If you talk about financial damages, then ok, but that is not theft.

Like rapind someone is not called murder. Yet you could bend the reasoning by saying that the damages done by rape could lead to suicide and so it is actual murder.. And so you conclude that rape is murder. Well, no it's not.

If you say that it is bad for the intellectual property owner, that it's bad for this and that, ok, fine. My only issue is when you call it stealing or theft, that's untrue, that's all I'm saying.

As for any judgement on me because I never buy music anymore (I still go to movie theaters if that counts, I also buy my PS3 games, but I never buy any movie/video anymore) of course it is not effective because I don't need the opinion of others about me or my acts, I'm not in high school or at church

 

Signup for emusic account its only 99 cents for your first album or two. Then cancel and then they beg you to stay and give you a free $$$ music credit first time you try to cancel so then you say why not more free music. Then you do cancel emusic.com for a week or two. Then they beg you to come back for 99 cents again all legal and you say sure why not. Cancel after that because you don't want the monthly subscription once you run out of credits. And repete as they legally beg you to rejoin.

 

I buy it, or get it for free, legally. That is the best, I think.

 

when I really like the music I buy the CD as a way of supporting the artist

 

LMAO, I don't download music or anything much online period. I don't care much for newer music anyway and I have all of the music I could ever want from buying it over the years.

 

LMAO, worth a lolololol.

 

I always download songs from subscription websites

 

i generally download it