Copyright and File-sharing

This week I am going to talk about file-sharing, especially concentrating on music and pictures.


LimeWire is a peer-to-peer file sharing program that allows people to download songs from it. This seems innocent enough. However, what most people don't know is that it is actually illegal, and those who know this do not understand why this is so, so continue to do it anyway. A common speculation and indeed my theory, is that people do not think that they are stealing, because a song is not a physical object.

THIS IS WRONG!!!

Downloading a tune without paying is the same as walking into a music shop, taking a CD and walking out again without paying. It simply doesn't seem morally wrong to take an object with no physical form.

Not only this - people who use these programs and share them with other people are even more in the wrong. The process where people obtain these illegal files is called 'seeding', and the process where people share these illegal files is called 'leaching'.

Many people own i-pods. In a survey of 11 average 14 year olds, 8 owned iPods and 3 owned up to downloading tunes from programs such as LimeWire. And with more advanced technology and more people finding out about it, there are bound to be many more in the near future.


Another common problem is that people copy and paste pictures from the internet and use them. The most likely case is that these pictures have been copyrighted by their owner. In order to use these photos, you would have to contact the owner and ask them for permission to use the picture.

Alternatively, if you want to look for pictures free of copyright, the best place to look for them is Flickr Commons; a site where people put their photos up and allow other people to use them. It is a very good website, and I would recommend using it if you are one of those people who want to be safe, stick with the law and have access to legal photos.



So, in conclusion, I would have to say that you should not use illegal programs such as LimeWire. Although it may seem good, it will leave you in a sticky situation at the end. If you are in need of obtaining legal photos without the hassle, visit sites such as Flickr Commons, which will let you do so.