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Is File-Copying Theft?

Napster may not survive the lawsuits against it, but file-copying will undoubtedly live on in other utilities. So, is it stealing? Libraries share books much like Napster shares songs, although it's illegal to photocopy entire books in a library. Until the courts sort it out, you're on your own to reconcile the innate freedom of digital media with the rights of the people creating it. Here are some sites that can help you educate yourself about the issues:

Artists Against Piracy is a coalition of recording artists, including Christina Aguilera, Blink-182, Garth Brooks, Herbie Hancock, Hootie & the Blowfish, Sarah McLachlan, and Dwight Yoakam, who support the Recording Industry Association of America's anti-Napster position. The coalition's motto is "If a song means a lot to you, imagine what it means to us."

Cuckoo's Egg Project, an anti-Napster vigilante monkey-wrenching site, publishes instructions on how to make and share Cuckoo's Eggs--MP3 files masquerading as well-known tunes but with only the first few seconds of the song. The rest of the file is white noise or a repeating cuckoo-clock sound.

Electronic Frontier Foundation's Campaign for Audiovisual Free Expression takes the position that while pirating an artist's work is illegal, not all file-copying is piracy. The group argues that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 may be unconstitutional.

Fairtunes.com lets you pay the artists whose recordings you have downloaded. The site isn't specific about its remuneration process, but it promises to forward your payment to any artist in a "fast and accountable way."

The Home Recording Rights Coalition campaigns for the consumer's right to use audio/video equipment and PCs to make copies of music and video for noncommercial purposes. Check out the HRRC's summary of the 1992 Audio Home Recording Act, a law that may play a central role in determining the legality of Napster and other file-sharing technologies.

The Recording Industry Association of America represents the interests of record companies in legal and legislative venues. The RIAA provides a detailed explanation of its position on what file copiers can and cannot download.

SpeakOut.com's Napster Activism Center contains plenty of information and has links to Napster-related sites, both pro and con, plus opinion polls on copyright and piracy issues.

PCWorld.com discusses the legalities of MP3 from a user's perspective, including how to obtain legal digital audio files, and what you can and can't do with them. You'll get an even broader perspective by reading about the technology underlying the MP3 file format in Michael Gowan's informative article "How It Works: MP3."