Free Music Software - I have a Question

[Jillian]

I had LimeWire and downloaded a few songs. I have always used iTunes in the past. I became afraid of perhaps downloading music with copyrights and decided to uninstall LimeWire.

My question is : Is there any way to tell if the songs have a copyright or not ?

Is it just a chance one is taking with downloading music files from such software ? I became very uncomfortable with this.

Thanks in advance for your response


If this is in the wrong forum , please move it to the correct one.

[Jillian]

I would really like some answers please. Surely you more knowledgeable guys/gals should know the answer to this one. Surely someone out there knows if this type software is bad or good .

[drewbee]

If you have to pay for them on itunes, they they are copyrighted. I would venture and say 99% of artists work is copyrighted. Therefore most of the music files on Limewire are illegal.

This does not stop many people from downloading, but nevertheless, there is your answer.

If you do use Limewire, please use extreme caution as many files contain malware.



drew

[Jillian]

Thanks for your response , but I am NOT talking about those I purchase on iTunes. Yes , I know those are safe. No worries about violating copyrights.

I am talking about those files you download from LimeWire , FrostWire , BareShare etc etc. The Freebies. Are these safe ? Or , is one just taking a chance with the songs having a copyright ?

[drewbee]

Calling them "unsafe" is not correct.

Most of them are real music files of real songs, however that does not make them LEGAL.

Most content on those softwares you listed are pirated and copyrighted material.

[Jillian]

So are you telling me that it is best NOT to use the file sharing software since the music is mostly in copyright ?

[debtboy]

Please read:
http://osmoothie.com/2009/06/19/woma...ion/#more-9283

I'd rather pay a $1.00 per song instead of $80,000.00 per song

Stick to legal purchases via Itunes or some other service.
I personally use Rhapsody.

[drewbee]

Originally Posted by Jillian

So are you telling me that it is best NOT to use the file sharing software since the music is mostly in copyright ?

That is left upon your own conscience. I used to download all of my music through file sharing, albeit through a different protocol (bittorent) yet I now use zune.

For 14.99 a month you have unlimited music downloads. Quite nice.

Cheers
drew

[questor]

Perhaps there could be a list of legal music download sites here.

I know these would be mostly commercial as there aren't many free legal music downloads but a list of legal sites would be useful even if they are not free.

So how about a list of OK music sites?

[mr6n8]

Originally Posted by Jillian

I had LimeWire and downloaded a few songs. I have always used iTunes in the past. I became afraid of perhaps downloading music with copyrights and decided to uninstall LimeWire.

My question is : Is there any way to tell if the songs have a copyright or not ?

Is it just a chance one is taking with downloading music files from such software ? I became very uncomfortable with this.

Thanks in advance for your response


If this is in the wrong forum , please move it to the correct one.

There is no way to tell if the songs have a copyright that prohibits distribution.
Almost certainly, the songs will have a copyright that prohibits distribution, unless the download indicates a release under a Creative Commons copyright.
99%+ of content on Limewire is covered by a copyright that prohibits unauthorized distribution.