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Will Legal P2P Music Distribution Succeed?
SnowWolf2003 writes "It looks like a couple of people are trying to find a way to distribute music legally over P2P networks. The latest is Mercora (with more information here). Also Napster 2.0 is due for release sometime next week. Can any of these Windows alternatives to Apple's iTunes compete though with the inherent restrictions built into the wma format? Note MusicMatch has just launched a windows based service with fewer restrictions equivalent to the iTunes policy. More importantly, can these P2P services lure enough people away from restriction free Kazaa to make themselves successful, where P2P networks rely on a large user base?"
So the only thing I have deprived these artists of is a sale that wouldn't have happened anyways! Another note is many of these musicians would probably be happy that I enjoyed listening to their music even though they didn't make any money off of it.
If the sale wouldn't have happened then you're use of the intellectual property shouldn't have happened. You're depriving the artists the right to make a buck by using or enjoying their intellectual property without reimbursing them for that property. In other words, you're practicing theft. If the "muscians would probably be happy that you've enjoyed listening to their music even if they didn't make any money off of it" then they should explicitly state so. In which case you wouldn't be stealing because they gave you the right to listen to their music freely without reimbursement. There are other cases where you'll over hear a song or hear a tune on the radio or somewhere in a public/private area that you might like and swapping is going to happen regardless; that's ok. Outright downloading a song because you can't afford to pay for it is stealing. It's the same as you stealing a BMW off the manufacturers line because you can't afford to pay for it. In this case you deny the manufacturer the right to profit off the actual property.. just like you deny the muscians their right to profit off their intellectual property. Exact copy or not, you deny them that right and unless they grant you rights to use their intellectual property for free you are stealing and I still consider it theft. As I said before you person and others are free to call it whatever you want so long as we both agree that it deprives the artist/creator of the intellectual property a right to profit from it.