Copyright
Put your hand up if you know somebody who has downloaded some music off the internet without paying for it. Not you, of course. You wouldn't dream of doing something like that, I know. But millions do. And it's just not fair!
Imagine that you are Justin whatsisname. You release your latest CD so that you can become rich. You hope that lots of people will buy it from Tesco for £9.99.
But what if only one person buys it. And then they upload it to the internet for other people to download for free. Using file-sharing sites and peer-to-peer networks, like BitTorrent sites, millions of people will be able to download the CD for free. This means that Justin Believer will only get £9.99 for his troubles, even though millions of people then have a copy of his CD.
Imagine that you are Justin whatsisname. You release your latest CD so that you can become rich. You hope that lots of people will buy it from Tesco for £9.99.
But what if only one person buys it. And then they upload it to the internet for other people to download for free. Using file-sharing sites and peer-to-peer networks, like BitTorrent sites, millions of people will be able to download the CD for free. This means that Justin Believer will only get £9.99 for his troubles, even though millions of people then have a copy of his CD.
So, who is breaking the law in the above example? Well, first of all, the person who uploads the CD to the internet is breaking the law, as they do not have permission to do that.
Next, every single person that downloads the CD is also breaking the law, because they are really stealing the music from Justin Bieber, because he never gave his permission for it to be on the internet for free in the first place.
You are only being a law-abiding good person if you buy the CD, or pay for the music through an official website such as iTunes, Amazon or Play.com.
Next, every single person that downloads the CD is also breaking the law, because they are really stealing the music from Justin Bieber, because he never gave his permission for it to be on the internet for free in the first place.
You are only being a law-abiding good person if you buy the CD, or pay for the music through an official website such as iTunes, Amazon or Play.com.
Click on the BBC Bitesize image to read more about Copyright law and how it affects you. And me. And that student next to you, and next to them......oh, just click it, you get the point!