COPYCENSE

"Downloading music from the Internet is not illegal. Plenty of music available online is not just free but also easily available, legal and – most important – worth hearing.

"That fact may come as a surprise after highly publicized lawsuits by the RIAA against fans using peer-to-peer programs like Grokster and eDonkey to collect music on the Web.

"But the fine print of those lawsuits makes clear that fans are being sued not for downloading but for unauthorized distribution: leaving music in a shared folder for other peer-to-peer users to take. As copyright holders, the labels have the exclusive legal right to distribute the music recorded for them, even if technology now makes that right nearly impossible to enforce.

"While the recording business litigates and lobbies over music being given away online, countless musicians are taking advantage of the Internet to get their music heard. They are betting that if they give away a song or two, they will build audiences, promote live shows and sell more recordings."

Jon Pareles. No Fears: Laptop D.J.’s Have a Feast. The New York Times. Sept. 10, 2004.

(Editor�s Note: The Times allows free access to their stories on the Web for seven days before sending the stories to the paper�s fee-based Archive.)