Can you get in trouble for downloading too many songs from limewire?

Question

i mean what would be considered, 'too much'??

everytime i download a song, it always mentions:

"Please note: limewire cannot monitor or control the content of the Gnutella network. Please respect your local copyright laws"

everyone keeps saying its illegal, then how can it allow a person to download it from another? that must mean that there is something legal about it, then was it and what are the rules and risks?

Answer 1

Theoritically, yes, you can get in trouble for downloading ANY copyrighted music without paying for it. That's called theft. However, with so many people downloading it, the odds of you actually getting in trouble with the FBI are about the same as winning the jackpot in a state lottery. There's just too many people doing it and not enough resources to combat it. Don't get me wrong though, they are doing something about it, but it's moving along slower than a snail's pace.

Answer 2

The program is legal in the way it has to assume you aren't moving copyrighted material from one PC to another. peer to peer programs were initially created as a mans for businesses to exchange documents and whatnot.

Yes you can get in trouble for downloading too many songs. The RIAA is still quite active in chasing people rabidly. Even though the RIAA are money grubbing hypocrites.

Anyways, in Canada, there used to be a law stating something along the lines that downloading music wasn't illegal, but hosting it for others to DL was illegal. I think that law has been replaced. In the USA I believe it's Downloading and uploading copyrighted material is illegal.

Too much is......say, over 1000 songs downloaded. But that would be my guess. They've sued people for much less, and much more.


And Phil, even though you can buy Limewire Pro, it doesn't make the copyrighted material free. It never can, you just get adless downloads and better rates. The only legal way of downloading is through websites like iTunes, or through websites that offer free tracks/albums that were legally approved to be downloaded for free.

Answer 3

If you download it for free then every song is illegal but if you buy Limewire Pro then there is no legal limit to how many songs you can download

Answer 4

Depends on your ISP. You may get a warning(s) from your ISP.
Not sure if they could discontinue your service.

Technically, downloading copyrighted stuff is illegal, but it is really frowned upon if you are distributing it around. They usually don't go after people downloading for only personal use unless you really get excessive.

To avoid these problems, I would recommend PC Guardian.

Answer 5

The reason why lime wire is legal is because you share files, through a main system data base. However,some files may be corrupt when trying to download them, there is no limit on lime wire, with the exception of the memory space you have on your computer.

Hope this helps.

Answer 6

I don't think you can download too many songs from them. I've burned at least 50 cd's off of limewire and it still lets me download them.

Answer 7

What you are talking about is covered by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1989 and penalties for violating it range up to a $500,000 fine or up to five years imprisonment for a first offense, and up to a $1,000,000 fine or up to 10 years imprisonment for subsequent offenses. If you are caught downloading songs for free or posting them for free then you are breaking the law.

Limewire gets around this problem by not monitoring or using the content and by putting up that disclaimer that you mentioned. If you violate that disclaimer then you are doing so on your own and assuming the risks with knowledge that what you are doing is illegal.

This law stops things like the old Napster and Limewire from allowing copyrighted material to be copied and shared over the Internet. Copyright is the Patent for the Music and Movie Industries. If someone files a patent with the US Government then they own the idea or the work. If someone else wants to use that idea or work they have to pay the patent holder. If they don’t then they can be sued. In the Music and Movie Industry they can’t file a patent on the idea of a song since it is older than recorded history, but they can file a copyright on a SPECIFIC song. If other people want to use that copyrighted song then they must either pay for it or receive permission from the company to use it.

By downloading a song, and not paying for it, you violate the copyright. If the company that owns that copyright finds out then they can sue you for that in civil court. This law has been in existence for a long time. It is not worth a company’s time to sue individual song downloaders so to enforce the copyright Congress enacted a law making this in just illegal in the civil code, but now it is illegal in the criminal code.

This is the law that reformed Napster. Napster was a pier-to-pier sharing network specialized in songs. Napster didn’t copy the songs or used them, thus violating the company’s copyright, but they organized it, and were profiting from it, buy selling ad space on their sites. Napster made pier-to-pier sharing popular and spread it among the general population. Pier-to-pier sharing is as old as the Internet and one of the reasons for its original design. Back then Government, the military and major universities could post and share files; mostly documents. This process has been and underground Internet function for a while, but Napster took it mainstream.

Napster lost their suit and had to pay damages. Then to continue operating they had to charge for the songs and use that money to pay the music industry for use of its copyright. That’s why iTunes isn’t a free service. Since they cooperated with the Music/Movie/Television companies for the start (and since iTunes is backed by Apple) these companies allowed more and more media to be distributed. But, it took one other factor first.

Ever since the invention of the cassette recorder the radio and music industries haven’t liked the fact that people could copy their songs for free. A lawsuit was filed and the judgment was made that since the songs were publicly distributed over the air it was legal to make a copy of it. However, it was illegal to distribute those songs or profit from them. This put teeth into copyright laws.

With the invention of the VHS Recorder the movie industry fought people copying their work. Copyguard protection was put into all recorders sold. But, third party companies would produce “clarifiers” that would make the picture a little clearer by getting around the copyguard protection. What man can do, man (eventually) can undo. So when DVDs were made with copyguard software was made that would get around it.

For the music/movie/television industry to distribute content over iTunes Apple had to agree to include copyguard, and so far it works so well that it can’t be changed without messing up the content. When you buy content (song, TV shows, or movies) from iTunes then it comes with a digital code imbedded in it. You buy the rights to use that song and when you transfer it from one iPod to another then you have to transfer those rights and remove it from the first iPod.

The recording industry has decided that it is permissible for the public to make one backup copy of the media that they buy and you can change formats from say a tape to an MP3. Making any more than one copy or distributing the media to others is illegal, and since 1989 criminal.

For a summary of the law check this out.
THE DIGITAL MILLENNIUM COPYRIGHT ACT OF 1998 : http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf
“Under section 1204
Penalties range up to a $500,000 fine or up to five years imprisonment for a first offense, and up to a $1,000,000 fine or up to 10 years imprisonment for subsequent offenses.”

NOTE: Sony Corporation has decided that anyone with over 5,000 songs is considered to be a distributor and so worthy of prosecuting, but according to the law just downloading one song is illegal. If you are caught downloading or sharing copyrighted material then you have broken the law and can be prosecuted. Then if company that you "stole" that song from wants to they can sue in civil court.

Answer 8

it is illegal to download or share even one song

but no you won't get caught. your odds of winning the lottery are probably higher than the RIAA coming after you. they do go after a few people just to scare people.

Answer 9

no limit