How lawful is it to download music via the Internet? This is a question I have asked myself many times and, not being knowledgeable on the subject of copyrights, I had to do some research to form some idea.
I was flabbergasted to see how gigantic the Internet music industry is. There are an unlimited offer of any music you can think of on offer. You need to register on these sites and then you can download anything you want against payment. But I could not find one single site that provided me with sufficient information to satisfy myself that I would not be breaking the law by downloading music from those sites. In many instances information in regard to copyrights are contained in the terms and conditions of those sites. It is however hidden in so much legal jargon that even I, as a legal practitioner, found it difficult to understand. For people with little experience and legal knowledge, this information is almost meaningless.
So, as I said, I did some research.
The marketing and distribution of music (or any other form of intellectual property) is regulated worldwide by the WIPO. As I understand it this organization is now an agency of the UN, internationally mandated to regulate this issue in accordance with the WIPO treaties.
To explain I must point out that international treaties are agreements between signatory governments and are, as such, not law. It must be nationally implemented by national laws. So, what might be law in the USA may not be law in Liberia for instance.
Laws covers nationals and actions performed in the particular countries in which they operate. You may therefore find that providers may specifically indicate that they do not accept any responsibility for the actions of foreign users.
You may even go further and accept that there may exist similar organizations as ROMS in other countries – established in accordance with these treaties but with questionable administrative capabilities. You could then be under the impression that you are legally downloading music from a provider. In the meantime providers are not paying over any royalties to the various artists whose music they sell.
This whole situation is extremely undesirable and places an unnecessary liability on users. Why can’t WIPO not at least issue a registration (be it through national agencies) with a annual renewable number that refers back to a WIPO site where users can verify the legitimacy of their downloads?
Although one could use the size of the provider as a guide to ascertain the legality of its offer. It is however also a fact that one of the biggest music download providers are accused of doing business illegally. So how would we know?
A lot is being made of the so-called “theft” of copyrights. It is however governmental agencies and the international regulator are extremely unreasonable – and in a sense not doing their work – by not assisting the public to know what is legal and what not. As a result music lovers are at risk and music artists – whom we would never wish to prejudice – are losing income and motivation to keep providing us with their artistic work.
Until these regulatory institutions wake up and perform their mandates effectively, readers are invited to enjoy the music they love. It is for you that I have searched for the best links with the best music and added it to this blogroll to some of the best music sites. The two I prefer are Just Music and Music Forum.
J.C.Grobler.
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