Alright guys, Jonathan and I were discussing this today and we agreed on things and so on, and I even took the time to look up the subject and chose to take my opportunity to enlighten you all some more ;-).
What Jonathan and I were discussing was the use of illegal music. I.E. music sharing, sites, how people use it and find petty excuses for it. I took the lawful approach in music, while Jonathan pulled out the catechism (being the saint that I taught him to be). So, let's Carry on to the subject My Wayward Friends!
Let's take a long debated subject in the music industry. Limewire, heck even
Limewire Pro. BOTH of these sites are completely illegal, as with most any file site in the world. But the biggest problem about these sites is that it's a tool, just like any other site. The site becomes corrupted by people who use it for the wrong purpose; the wrong purpose being
the downloading of copyrighted music. If a song is copyrighted, then you cant get it! Plain and simple as that, even with limwire pro.
A bigger problem to the law on music is file sharing. Sharing a file has often caught people lawsuits by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) who often watch certain campuses or colleges for this illegal use. Just on a small search of mine, I found many times where around 400 people of one college would be put on lawsuits for the use of file sharing and file downloading of copyrighted material.
Even if there ARE songs that are not copyrighted (I dont really think the song would be too much in greatness if the composer forgot to copyright it...Which makes me wonder about my songs) found on limewire (pro) and any other downloading site; the very dangerous thing is that there is VERY LITTLE music found today that is not copyrighted for protection, but still put to use in any file using site! From good songs to bad, just like Green Day to, yes...Even Shakira (no matter how bad a tune her songs can have). From Black Eyed Peas to James Blunt. From AC~DC to Blondie. Songs WILL be copyrighted.
I saw and heard excuses such as "It's all made up for in taxes" or "It's too slight to be noticeable". "It's only a little bit of stealing"This is completely wrong. Sony and BMG used to be independent music companies. Now, because of the downscale in music (no pay from free sites means no upscale obviously!), Sony and BMG have created the company "SonyBMG" in order to keep the prices going and the income at a fair expense. It's only a little bit? Am I going to drive 80 miles an hour and get pulled over and go to the officer when he gives me the ticket. "Excuse me officer? Yeah, you see...I was only speeding A LITTLE BIT...can you make it only a ticket for a little bit of speeding" And he goes "Yeah I guess you're right" and rips the ticket a little bit to put down the price a little bit. No...that's not giong to happen. If it's made for the taxes...why not steal from the road construction crew then? We pay for road construction anyways in taxes. Let's go rob MacDonalds!!! Also...mind if I put a little crap in the brownies I'm making for the next YG party (I get that alot from my parents)?
The artists too, must make a living. They must pay for an instrument, new guitar strings, amps, mics, drumheads, drumsticks, transportation and even pay to have time at a recording station. They also have behind the stage a family to attend to, and their own things to pay off. But they dont really get paid much...all those concerts and publicity stunts seen on TV are a way to just make their latest album a hit; the main money goes to the record companies and the managers (and they most likely pay to make the band look wealthy). Even if a person says "Oh but Green Day is a rich band for sure". Yeah ok, they are most likely. But if everyone thinks that in America, then who is going to give Green Day the pay in any way? Their songs would be seemingly unfamous..no matter how many times it has been played on the radio for it's publicity. Managers arent going to allow people to sing if they have the hard time of even affording to pay a small time artist because they get no pay themselves. (Sorry, this is probably my most confusing paragraph). And it's not the band itself who can get ripped off. But oftentimes people will write songs and send them to famous people. Do you think Kelly Clarkson came up with "A Moment Like This" while auditioning in American Idol? Of course not! Someone made it for her.
Jonathan told me that "The Catechism Explained; An Exhaustive Explanation of the Catholic Religion" quotes that "
We are in danger of committing mortal sin if we take from our neighbor as much as he requires to support him one day in a manner suitable to his position". If not a mortal sin, then it is venial until you take the amount meriting mortal sin. Now the manager can make millions, so it'd be hard to commit mortal sin (if you were foolish enough to think, "Oh as long as it's not mortal"). But what about the guy that records a song? The guy who composes one song in his life by luck but must continue his job at Wal-Mart with minimum wage? You dont know how much you're taking and from who, so..All in all
Keep away from file sharing, and file downloading of copyrighted material. And TRY to keep away (since it's not against the rules or anything) from sites that often cause these things to happen. Such as limewire, winMX, and other sites (something like Kabuuk) that are excessively dangerous.
The Church commands us to obey civil laws as long as they dont contradict laws of the Church and moral laws...Want to download illegally? That's called NOT obeying civil laws. That is NOT moral. That IS stealing, which is an offense against the seventh commandment.
"Give to Caesar what is Caesar's..." Give to the people that aided in the production of a song what he deserves. I know I wont want people downloading my songs illegally if they ever become famous to any extent. And if it's not about money to people, then why not do the right thing and pay 99cents for a song?
Thanks for your time
