

Criminal charges may leave you with a felony record, accompanied by up to five years of jail time and fines up to $250,000. A civil lawsuit could hold you responsible for thousands of dollars in damages. Making unauthorized copies of copyrighted music recordings is against the law and may subject you to civil and criminal liability. (Title 17, United States Code, Sections 501 and 506). Federal law provides severe civil and criminal penalties for the unauthorized reproduction, distribution, rental or digital transmission of copyrighted sound recordings. Though you may not find these messages on all compact discs or music you’ve downloaded from the Internet, the same laws apply. Most likely, you’ve seen the FBI warning about unauthorized copying at the beginning of a movie DVD. When you make unauthorized copies of someone’s creative work, you are taking something of value from the owner without his or her permission. The LawĬopyright law protects the value of creative work. Read on to learn to distinguish between legal and illegal practices. Many different actions qualify as piracy, from downloading unauthorized versions of copyrighted music from a file-sharing service to illegally copying music using streamripping software or mobile apps. About Piracy Music theft-or piracy-is constantly evolving as technology changes.
