Drink Up Me Hearties, Yo Ho

There are multiple opinions when it comes to the topic of file sharing. Some call it illegal, while others call it a way of life. Okay, technically, yes, it is illegal. But why? I see no harm in it. So let’s break this down by industry, starting with music.

Music

I’ll just come out and say it right now, yes, I have downloaded music. But I really see nothing wrong with it. Envision this scenario: Your friend just got the new Mariah Carey album. You love Mariah Carey. So you decide to take your laptop over to his house and grab the songs off of his CD. Now you have the songs on your laptop and he still has them too. Now how is downloading them online any different? It’s just a long distance friend and you don’t have to leave your house to do it. File sharing is not a new thing, it’s been happening for a very long time. Even as far back as recording a song to tape off of the radio. But now all of a sudden because it’s over the internet, it’s considered illegal? And now with the invention of internet radio such as Pandora and Spotify, it creates an even stronger argument. I can listen to music whenever I want, as long as I’m online, for free. Radio has been around a while and it is random song selection, but with Spotify you can choose the specific song you want to listen to. (I’m actually listening to New Found Glory‘s greatest hits right now.) It’s basically like having the song. So if I can listen to it for free online, why shouldn’t I be able to also listen to it for free offline? So I just download the songs I like and put them on my iPod to listen to in my car and other places that I want to listen to music. I honestly see no harm in this.

This is just some dude’s upload of this song with lyrics. It’s not illegal for him to upload or for me to listen to it so why should it be illegal for me to download it?

Movies

Movies are a little different story, but kind of the same concept. I can borrow a movie from a friend and watch it. I lent out some movies to friends the other day. Should that be illegal? I don’t think that it should be. It’s just sharing between friends. So I should be able to go online and stream a movie too. I don’t like to download just because the file sizes are so big. But I do think that it’s wrong to stream or download a movie before it comes out on DVD. It’s in theaters first for a reason, and that’s so that the production companies can make money at the box office. As an aspiring movie maker, I can understand that.

I have some closing thoughts on the subject, regarding if this were to happen to me. Like if I was the artist who had their music illegally downloaded. I honestly think I would be okay with it. I make media right now for no profit, so I’m used to it. I just love sharing my brain children with people, so if other people love it and listen to it and watch it, then let them. It’s just more publicity and word of mouth for me. I know that’s not a really great argument for why it shouldn’t be illegal, but I think it’s a little bit relevant. So in my honest opinion, and in conclusion, I do not think that file sharing should be illegal.