Pirated Music?

[nipponman]

I notice a lot of music links floating around on this forum, and I don't want to accuse anyone of stealing, but I don't want to listen to it and get sued. So, are there any pirated music links on this site? Your answers would be appreciated,

nipponman

[roddy]

Basically, if it's music, and you're downloading it for free, then someone somewhere isn't going to be happy. If you are worried about being sued then just don't do it.

Roddy

[zhwj]

Links to Western music you may want to avoid depending on where you are located. The RIAA is the one out on a mission, and they'll sue people in the US over labels they represent.

For Chinese music, consider this: Baidu, which runs an mp3 search engine that I'd guess the vast majority of Chinese music posted on the forums comes from, is about to go public. It has had problems over its music search in the past, but not over the legality of offering music downloads per se. Web companies have been upset that it provides direct links to songs, rather than guiding browsers to the front page of other download sites, which then would collect ad revenue.

Chinese law is still unclear on the subject, and where it's clear, it's not exactly enforced. A big case just this year involved license fees for karaoke parlors - public performance of music, a question that was settled in the US long before downloads became an issue.

So you're not going to get sued if you stick to non-RIAA music. Ethically, there are a number of ways to rationalize downloading Chinese music, but you can come up with them yourself if you wish.

[skylee]

Take a look at this thread -> Legal Chinese Music Downloads 音樂合法下載方式？

You can download Chinese songs legally from this website -> http://www.eolasia.com/

BTW, if you are concerned about whether what you find on the internet has the proper copyright and don't want to be accused of "stealing", then I think you should also pay attention to the reading material you find on the web, such as those links in this and many other threads -> story books in pdf

[nipponman]

Thanks for the legal link.

BTW, if you are concerned about whether what you find on the internet has the proper copyright and don't want to be accused of "stealing", then I think you should also pay attention to the reading material you find on the web, such as those links in this and many other threads -> story books in pdf

That material isn't legal?? Good thing I can't read simplified characters.

Thanks everybody,

nipponman

[laolee]

Didn't Baidu recently remove thousands of download links prepatory to going public?

R2G chief operating officer Scarlett Li said Baidu had taken out Web links to more than 3,000 music files of a single popular Chinese song alone. ...

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-07/20/content_3242353.htm

Full article below:

BEIJING, July 20 -- Baidu.com Inc., China’s biggest Internet search engine, which is pursuing a U.S. public listing, had agreed to remove links to thousands of Internet sites offering pirated music, the Financial Times reported Tuesday.

Beijing-based Baidu agreed to take action following complaints by R2G, a tracker of piracy and manager of licenses for music publishers, R2G told the Financial Times.

R2G chief operating officer Scarlett Li said Baidu had taken out Web links to more than 3,000 music files of a single popular Chinese song alone. She said the search engine was also looking into links to more than 50,000 files.

A Baidu spokeswoman was not immediately available for comment.

Baidu last week said it was seeking an initial public offering worth up to US$80 million, according to a prospectus filed with U.S. securities regulators.

The company is 2.6-percent owned by U.S.-based global Internet search giant Google Inc.

Baidu, quoting market research, said 22 percent of traffic on its Web site came from users of its search platform for MP3, a popular format for music files.

The firm is still small by Western standards but is growing rapidly, with revenue more than doubling to 42.6 million yuan (US$5.14 million) in the first quarter from 17.2 million yuan a year a ago, according to its prospectus.

(Source: Shenzhen Daily/Agencis)

[eddiewouldgo]

I dont think you'll get sued unless you are running a dedicated server sharing thousands of songs. Sometimes I use Apple's itunes, 99 cents a song. Itunes is now available in the US and Europe, last time i read, it's lauching in JP soon.