Sunday, May 20, 2007

Ethics of downloading "free" music

Since I am providing free samples of various music, I think it's necessary to address the ethics of downloading someone's artistic work, WITHOUT paying for it.

First of all, I want to note that the purpose of this blog is to give exposure to artists who, in my opinion, either lack adequate publicity, or deserve more. Thus, you won't see much Led Zeppelin, Elton John, or Prince music posted here. (Unless it is performed by someone else!) The idea is to let you hear some tunes you may not otherwise hear, with the hope that if you like the work, you will BUY the CD!

Is this ethical? I think so; in fact I think I am helping the artists, rather than hurting them. What do you think?

Following are some links on the ethics/legality of posting and downloading music. Note that I am much more interested in the ETHICS rather than the LEGALITY, as the legal system all too often dances to the tune of the one with the most money, whether or not that is the ethical thing to do. (E.g., see the antics of the RIAA.)

http://www.crf-usa.org/bria/bria19_2c.htm

This article is a little out of date, but I LOVE the guy's hair!
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/reevaluating-copyright.html
(Another link to same article if that one is broken: http://www.nyfairuse.org/stall1.xhtml )

Another out of date article. (Sorry ...... I don't get out much!)
http://www.geek.com/news/geeknews/2001mar/gee20010329005088.htm

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