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Online Guide
- Talking to Your Children About Downloading Music – A Parent's Guide
- First, Figure Out What Your Kids Are Doing Online
- What to Expect and How to Address the Issue
- Explaining the Underlying Reasoning to Your Kids
- Understanding Music and the Internet
- What should you do if you receive a letter or subpoena from the RIAA?
- So, what can you do to stay on the right side of the law and off the RIAA's subpoena list?
- And Now for the Really Boring Stuff…the Law
- Criminal Copyright Infringement and Children
- A message from Jennifer, age 14, New Jersey
- Ask Parry! Excerpt
- Frequently Asked Questions
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You are here: Home > Law > Copyrights > Talking to Your Children About Downloading Music – A Parent’s Guide > Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some of the most frequently asked questions I have received:
Q: Can you download music online to hear it and decide if you want to buy it?
A: The short answer is “no.” The longer answer is “probably not, but it depends.” (Sounds like a typical lawyer’s answer, doesn’t it? ) A copyright owner has several exclusive rights. But listening to their music is not one of them. That’s why you don’t have to pay to hear the radio. Unfortunately, copying is an exclusive right. Now, some websites are licensed to provide streaming of music or are licensed to permit someone to download a 30-second sound clip to sample the recording. If a sites is licensed to allow you to do this, you can do it legally. If it isn’t, you can’t. In most of the cases (a vast majority of the cases) the site is not licensed to allow you to sample the music.
Q: Is the answer different if you merely listen to it in a streaming format, instead of actually downloading it?
A: Yes, very different. As I mentioned above, anyone can listen to music. It isn’t one of the rights reserved exclusively to a copyright owner. Feel free to listen, just don’t record what you hear. I suspect that Internet radio will benefit from the recent tactics of the RIAA in suing children. Unfortunately, there are very substantial limitations on what music can be webcast. The restrictions came into place in the mid 90’s, and restricts how many recordings from a particular artist may be played within a certain period of time, and how often the recordings are replayed. Since they are also restricted in their ability to list what recordings will be webcast, no play programs can be posted. But if you can find the music you want to hear, listen all you want, online or offline.
Q: What if you own a CD but can't find it, or at another location, can you download another copy of the music legally?
A: No. While you are allowed to make a copy of the CD you purchased (or selections from that CD) for your own personal use, you cannot download a copy of the same music legally. When you buy a CD (the old-fashioned way, at a brick and mortar store) you acquire certain rights. You can listen to the CD, you can make a copy for your own personal use and you can convert it into a format for your MP-3 player or similar device. You can also give your CD away to a friend. (Just don’t keep the copy you made while giving the original to a friend.) You didn’t acquire the rights to make copies of the same music from other sources.
Q: Is there a legal difference between downloading music and allowing others to download it from you?
A: Yes. Although both are against the law, according to our friend and music copyright expert, Bennett Lincoff, Esq., if you are downloading music from someone else, you have violated the law. In the second case, when you upload it for others to download, you are violating the law and helping others do the same.
Q: If you want to use a song you already own on a CD but need it in MP3 format, can you download it in MP3 format to use on your MP3 player only?
A: No. You can convert it into an MP-3 format though. (See above.)
Q: What rights do you acquire when you buy a CD?
A: You can listen to the CD, you can make a copy for your own personal use and you can convert it into a format for your MP-3 player or similar device. You can also give your CD away to a friend. (Just don’t keep the copy you made while giving the original to a friend.) You didn’t acquire the rights to make copies of the same music from other sources.
Q: What if my child is only 12 and downloads music online without my knowledge?
A; Direct copyright infringement is a strict liability offense. That means it doesn’t make any difference if you knew what you were doing was illegal, or even if you knew that the music was copyrighted. If you download music from others online, you are liable. And parents are often responsible for the legal actions of their children. So far, parents have been paying to settle claims against their children, even as young as twelve years old.
In addition, since the parents typically own the computer and control the Internet access, they might be held liable for their children’s actions under contributory theories. (See “And Now for the Really Boring Stuff…the Law”)