Picture this scenario: You are sitting at home, relaxed in front of the TV watching Simon get nasty on "American Idol" when a sound brings you to the front door. As you approach the door, your heart nearly leaps out of your chest as it shatters into many pieces from the steel-toe boot kicking it. "Freeze! Police!", a voice snarls as a flashlight suddenly blinds you and gloved hands forcefully pull you to the floor. A cold clink of steel is heard as your wrists are manacled roughly behind your back. Dragged from the house in a daze, you see that a crowd of your neighbors have gathered on your front lawn to watch the proceedings. Shaking their heads in dismay, many twist their faces in disgust as you look upon them, for they know now what they have always suspected: you are a Copyright Infringer.

Although the scenario listed above may appear draconian to some, this is just what organizations like the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) want you to consider as you  download songs off the internet: copyright infringement--using other people's material without compensating them for it--is a crime. As you may know, in 2003, the RIAA launched a major offensive to thwart what they deemed to be a serious problem, namely downloading MP3 songs without permission--or compensation --to their members. The RIAA sued dozens of computer users, and threatened to sue even more to drive home the message that taking someone else's material is a crime.

Copyright infringement IS a crime. Some liken downloads to walking into a record store and simply shoplifting a CD. In this issue, let's explore exactly  what "infringement" is and the leaglities surrounding it as we continue to explore copyright law. 

As mentioned in our previous discussions, as a holder of a copyright you have 5 exclusive rights to your original work of art. These rights--to distribute, record, perform, display and make derivatives of your work-- are yours to enjoy for your life, plus 75 years after your death( which means you can will them to other family members after you die).

When someone uses your material without your permission, they are considered to have "infringed" upon  one or more of these rights. The RIAA  lawsuits were for allowing distribution to take place without their members' approval. Even though no money exchanged hands to acquire the downloads, it was still against the law because distributing them was not something the copyright holders agreed to. Moreover, free distribution  could possibly cut into the ability of the copyright holder to make a sale of the same song.

If your material is infringed upon, the law gives you three remedies to use against the infringer: fines, seizures, and/or imprisonment.

With fines, the infringer is forced to pay compensatory (that is, compensating you for the money you may have lost from the infringement) and/or punitive damages (fines levied against the infringer as a form of punishment) to satisy the lawsuit. Currently, fines for infringing can be as high as $150,000 PER song.

Those found guilty of infringement can also have the material which the copyrighted work is on confiscated, or seized. If a song is illegally placed on a CD, the courts can order EVERY copy of the CD removed from store shelves, warehouse bins, etc. and confiscated. Once seized, the  offending material is usually destroyed.

Imprisonment is usually the most severe of the three punishments for infringement, meaning that you may be playing "Hide the Soap" with Bubba at the Big House for quite a few years.

In order to use a copyrighted song, permission must be obtained first. Copyright law states that the holder of a copyright CANNOT withhold permission from someone requesting to re-record their song as long as the copyright holder is compensated. This "compulsory" provision of the law lends its name to the license needed to re-record the tune: a compulsory license. With this form, a person can legally use another's work by paying a statutory rate to that individual. Performing rights organizations like ASCAP and BMI can explain this process in much greater detail.

All of these factors really need to be considered, especially if the work you are producing relies heavily on other people's work such as "sampling". Next issue we'll look into sampling and examine how to legally use it on a copyrighted work.