Legality of downloading mp3 - Research Paper Example

The first chapter of the paper, called “Status-quo of the illegal mp3 downloads” will analyze in the two sub-chapters the statistics and the damages of the illegal file sharing both in the national and international context and it will critically analyze the legal issues that arise from the mp3 downloads and the attempts of reforming the Canadian copyright law. The context in which illegal mp3 download can be justified in the Canadian legislative context will be studied, too. Nowadays, when there are so many talented singers, it has become a lot easier to listen to their music by using the Internet, rather than buying a licensed CD.

This way, the consumer is happy, because he listens to whatever kind of music he likes, the singer is popular, because his music is downloaded from the Net thousands times per day, sometimes even more, so, at first sight, it is a win-win situation. Nevertheless, singing for the artist is a job; it is his way of earning money, so by downloading his “job” from illegal sites, the consumer is actually stealing his intellectual property, “forgetting” to pay for it. There are many contradictory opinions on this subject, and the fact that day by day the number of illegal mp3 downloads grows just makes the matter more and more actual and painful for the people whose work is being stolen.

Transmitting mp3 files over the Internet has become by far the most popular method of distribution, generating in this way controversial and intense debates. The Canadians are among the lucky ones, however. The legislation permits downloading mp3 files from the internet, as long as they are not shared by the user. While the neighbors – the Americans are afraid to even enter a pirate website under the threat of a lawsuit, Canadians encounter no restriction whatsoever in downloading whatever kind of music they