Is media downloading &
P2P sharing legal?

Copyright issues

The legalities of media downloading and P2P sharing on the Internet vary from country to country, and depend mainly on whether the material you are downloading is copyrighted. It is generally considered to be a breach of the copyright holder's exclusive rights of reproduction and distribution if you download their work or make it available to others without permission.

Exceptions include Canada and France who allow the freedom to share such material, and reimburse the copyright holders in various ways, including levies on recordable media. In most countries though, you can only lawfully download copyrighted material with the permission of the copyright holder, or if you use a paid service such as:

Even if you paid for your download, there may be restrictions on how many copies you can make and what you can copy them to, but it is normally ok to make a personal copy for backup purposes.

It is also usually acceptable to create MP3s of a legally purchased CD, or AVIs from your DVD collection, but if you then give these copies to a friend, sell them, or make the files available on the Internet in any way, then this could be considered to be a breach of copyright.

All the software used in the downloading techniques described on this site are perfectly legal as they are routinely used for non-infringing purposes, (the same principal as a cassette recorder, photocopier, or a CD/DVD burner).

There are many arguments as to whether P2P sharing helps or hinders the industry, whether it levels the playing field and helps independent artists, and whether the big companies deserve everything they get for ripping off consumers and artists alike for decades. But the bottom line is, copyright infringement is illegal, so be careful.

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