Downloading Music

[apache050358]

I have the album Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd which I bought 30 years ago. Am I breaking the law by downloading this album in MP3 format from the internet - I have, after all, paid for the music once ?

[Coobeastie]

Yes you would be. You can copy your existing recording for your own use (say for example you wanted a back up copy) but the purchase of the album in the past does not then allow you to obtain other copies of that recording free of charge. In the same way that having the album doesn't mean you can walk into HMV and walk out with a copy without buying it.

[apache050358]

Thanks for the reply. Better get all that stuff back to HMV before the police arrive.

Surely there is a distinction between a 'hard' copy such as a CD and a 'soft' copy i.e. an mp3 file. I would not expect to walk out of HMV with something that cost money to produce (cd, case, cover etc) but I have already paid for the right to listen to this music. Why should I expect to pay again and what law am I breaking in this instance?

[cherrybomb]

I would do it. I would also play music at a party outside, even though it would be classed as an illegal public broadcast.

If you want to download legally just pay for the right to download it or hire it on C/D from the library and change the format to mp3 on your computer.

I recently downloaded some relaxation music legally and when I played it back it turned out to be "The Wall" full album.

[sistar]

technically you are breaking the law, but to prosecute, they'd have to prove that the mp3 was not from your original copy, how could they possibly do that?