Fourth Estate Newspaper

Issue date: 2/4/10 Section: Entertainment

Media Credit: Photo illustration by Molly Simac/Fourth Estate Which is worse: to be thrown in jail or thousands of dollars in fines? The more songs added, the higher the price.

Which is worse: to be thrown in jail or thousands of dollars in fines? The more songs added, the higher the price.
The musicians and artists who write these songs are not being reimbursed for the songs distributed illegally between listeners. Many of the youth today can get their songs for free on Web sites such as Limewire.
Not that Limewire itself is illegal. Limewire's users, who distribute the songs without permission to other users are what makes it illegal.
There are sites where students can become members and are charged a much smaller fee for songs. These sites allow users to buy just the tracks they want as oppsed to the whole CD.
Most students in today's society think illegally downloading music isn't a big deal. They think if their friends do it and don't get caught, it will be OK for them to do it as well.
This could be because the issue isn't brought up in the news as often as it should be. Most students don't know of the repercussions of illegally downloading.
Though most people won't admit it, they have probably downloaded at least one illegal song.
Jeremy Tebo, business management major said "My friend, Katie got caught at Point illegally downloading music. They wanted to send her to jail but ended up settling in court for like $3000."
Not all fines are this small, however. Some fines for the downloading can be as much as $2 million or more depending on how many songs were downloaded and how nice the judge or jury decides to be.
Though illegally downloading is often frowned upon, for artists who aren't yet well known in the industry it can be a good thing.
The ability for people to hear their songs for free can get them the exposure they need to make it in the big time.
Since people started to find out the risks of getting music from sites that aren't exactly legal, it seems the numbers of downloaded music has gone down. Also, the numbers of lawsuits against people who illegally download music have gone down in numbers since their start in 2003.
Now, with the invention of iPods and iTunes it is easy and cheap to get only the songs you want. With this, less people are inclined to take the risks of downloading illegally.
Jess Mettler, graduate said, "Downloading music illegally isn't worth the risk because of the fines and punishments that come with it. It's stealing.
Numerous amounts of people work hard in the music industry and taking money away from them just isn't right."
For the people who think getting caught won't happen to them, they can ask Brianna LaHara, a 12- year-old from New York City. She thought downloading was fun and risk free.
The Recording Industry Association of America sued LaHara in 2003 for downloading with Kazaa, another illegal downloading site, such as Limewire. They prosecuted even though her mother paid the $29.99 a month service fee.
Even with sites like Limewire and Napster, which charge a fee, the RIAA can still catch people and charge them for downloading illegally.
The next time someone decides to download a song, maybe they will turn to iTunes, where a copy of the song will legally be in their possession after paying the $.99 or $1.29.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools