legal download

Searching for a Way to Legally Download Entertainment

Many sites over the Internet offer supposedly free and legal download of movies, television shows, games, and music.  Making an illegal download may result to negative consequences for the person who made the download whether or not he or she knows it.  It is always wise to check the legality of the site and its offerings before its service is availed of.

The Covering Law for Legally Downloaded Entertainment

Copyright is a concept in the legal world that grants exclusive rights to a creator of any original work to use or “copy” it usually for a determined period of time.  This is roughly equivalent to the creator’s lifetime plus 70 years.This translates to protection against other people who may wish to use the copyrighted product to gain profit for themselves or to grab credit for its creation.  In the entertainment world, there is much concern about how products of creativity are being used all over the world without regard for the legal rights of their respective creators.

When a person or persons makes unauthorized use of the copyrighted material, he or she is said to be infringing on copyright.  This just basically means that the approval of the copyright holder for use was not sought or has not been successfully obtained in spite of legal attempts to get it.  Words such as piracy and theft have been freely used in relation to unauthorized use of copyrighted material.  The Copyright Law is applicable to creative works in the entertainment world.

Downloading Movies and TV Shows Legally

To avoid any legal complications from downloading a movie or tv show, it is safe to choose sites that are in active partnership with movie studios and show producers to the effect that a site has all the given rights to offer it for downloading to the public.  What are usually offered as free downloads consist of movie trailers and the so called “sneak-peeks”.  Many independently-produced films are offered for free downloading over the Internet before they are sold to studios for regular public showing.  This is primarily being done for exposure and promotion.

The illegal downloading of movies and TV shows is punishable under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998.  The best option is to avail of the services offered by video sites authorized to offer downloading and streaming of movie and TV show materials such as Netflix.  Legal downloading and streaming can be done by paying a monthly subscription fee.  Subscribers may also avail of DVDs sent to their homes for an additional cost.

Downloading Music Legally

There are many online musical stores such as iTunes offering the sale of digital songs for legal downloading at a fixed cost.  Some new artists offer their songs for free downloading again as a form of promotion and exposure to the song.  Issues in pricing tend to mar the relationship between artists or record companies with music download service providers.

Downloading Games Legally

Many game companies are offering their older titles for free downloading.  Some are just samplers while others are actual full versions.  Steam is one of the more popular digital games distributor which provides downloadable games in varying prices.

File Sharing

File sharing is basically allowing access to other people to one’s own digitally-stored information such as movies, images, and music.  It has come under legal fire for supposed to be violating copyright laws.  The legality of the services being offered by service providers such as BitTorrent is being questioned.

Peer-to-peer (P2P} file sharing allows for the sharing of media files among peers or people connected by computers.  BitTorrent is a P2P network.  P2P networks are not illegal by themselves.  The only question being raised pertains to the copyrighted nature of materials being shared. Internet piracy is a serious issue but there is some doubt if downloading music or a movie for one’s own consumption and sharing to friends without the intention to profit from it constitutes piracy.

My Say

Anything found on the Internet is subject to copyright unless specifically offered by its creator for free use. Even then, there is still the need to confirm if such freedom was indeed granted by the owner. When in doubt, it is always best to check.